The full 2023 Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival programme, presented by Palace, launches today with a vibrant selection set to ease the winter chill. A specially curated programme of the best new cinema from the Nordic region featuring films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden will be screening nationally at Palace Cinemas, Luna Palace Cinemas and Palace Nova Cinemas from July to August. The festival is also delighted to welcome on board naming rights partner Saxo Markets, Danish trading and investment specialists.
Opening the Festival is the Australian Premiere of LET THE RIVER FLOW (Ellos eatnu – La elva leve), fresh from being crowned the Audience Award at the 2023 Göteborg Film Festival, and starring magnetic newcomer and proud Sámi Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen. Based on true events that inspired a generation of young Norwegians, writer/director Ole Giæver’s elegant, multi award-winning drama follows a young woman who is unintentionally drawn into a protest against a dam that may flood Indigenous Sámi land.
Festival Centrepiece GODLAND (Volaða land) is award winning Icelandic writer/director Hlynur Pálmason’s follow-up to his breakout hit A White, White Day and has been met with widespread critical acclaim. The stunning historical drama follows a Danish priest who embarks on a pilgrimage across a largely unexplored Iceland in the late 1800s.
The latest from Finland’s famed auteur Aki Kaurismäki is new tragicomedy FALLEN LEAVES (Kuolleet lehdet) arriving direct from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it garnered rave reviews. Starring Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen, it is the tale of two lonely strangers who meet by chance one Helsinki night, in search of the love of their lives.
Treats are in store for lovers of Scandi neo-Noir, thrillers and psychological dramas. From Denmark the highly anticipated sequel to box office smash Darkland, DARKLAND: THE RETURN (Underverden II) from critically acclaimed director Fenar Ahmad starring Dar Salim as an anti-hero re-entering the Copenhagen underworld undercover; SUPERPOSITION, a slick dramatic thriller with a supernatural twist in which a couple, on a tree change from Copenhagen to the Swedish forest, hope to find themselves and reignite their relationship and COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST (København findes ikke), a complex psychological drama about the power of memories, in which a young man agrees to be locked in an apartment and interrogated by his missing girlfriends’ father.
From Sweden comes SHADOW ISLAND, a pulse-pounding thriller featuring a cast of exciting new talent. An aspiring meteorologist sets off to a deserted island in the Barents Sea in search of the truth about his father’s passing, resulting in an intense maelstrom of paranoia and mystery.
Crowned best Nordic film at the 2023 Göteborg Film Festival, UNRULY (Ustyrlig) is an unsettling 1930s-set drama inspired by real-life events from the notorious women’s institution on the Danish Island of Sprogø that taught compliance to ‘morally deficient’ girls.
Fascinating documentary THE KING (Kungen) is a thought-provoking and poetic film about Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, who became the world’s youngest king. Two years in the making, direct Karin af Klintberg has made a modern film about a not very modern occupation.
A gripping dramatisation of Edvard Munch’s life, sumptuous biopic MUNCH depicts four defining periods in the Norwegian artist’s life, providing an intimate insight into a distinctive and unique artistic mind.
Comedy is well represented in this year’s festival line up with a selection of popular, box office hits. Iceland’s smash WILD GAME (Villibráð) features an all-star Icelandic cast including Aníta Briem, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Hilmar Guðjónsson in this wildly entertaining comedy of manners, where seven friends at a dinner party decide to play a dangerous game. The newest instalment in the highly popular Grump films from Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki is THE GRUMP: IN SEARCH OF AN ESCORT (Mielensäpahoittaja Eskorttia etsimässä). In this feel-good story about reconciliation and forgiveness, an ageing widower travels to Germany to buy a 1972 Ford Escort but ends up settling accounts with his past.
From Denmark comes ensemble comedy FATHERS & MOTHERS (Fædre & mødre) about the challenges of parenting school-aged children and a couple who must navigate hierarchy, rivalry and hidden agendas at their daughter’s new school; THE LAND OF SHORT SENTENCES (Meter i sekundet), a warm-hearted modern comedy about belonging and community from Danish comedy queen Hella Joof and period piece EMPIRE (Viften), which combines earnest drama and absurd comedy to explore power dynamics and interdependence as it follows a mistress and her housekeeper with vastly different living situations in the Danish West Indies in 1848.
From Finland comes warm-hearted dramatic comedy BUBBLE (Kupla) which follows the story of 16-year-old small town girl whose world collapses when she finds out her mother is having an affair; and modern love story FOUR LITTLE ADULTS (Neljä pientä aikuista) about a middle-aged couple on the verge of a breakup who decide to open their relationship and enter the complex world of polyamory.
Revolving around desire, elegant psychological thriller LOVE PROOF (Kärleksbevis) has unexpected twists and turns. as it focuses a divorcing couple who meet for a final weekend to empty and sell their summer house. Also from Sweden is the offbeat drama of dysfunctional domestic dynamics, ONE DAY ALL THIS WILL BE YOURS (En dag kommer allt det här bli ditt). A cartoonist and her siblings gather at the family farm in northern Sweden to discover how the land that has been in their family for generations is to be divided between them.
A fiery love affair leads to unexpected consequences in BURN ALL MY LETTERS (Bränn alla mina brev) from internationally acclaimed director Björn Runge and starring Bill Skarsgård and Asta Kamma August; NORWEGIAN DREAM, an observant coming-of-age drama set in a fish factory on the coast of Norway about the search for identity and the difficulty in loving others when you cannot accept yourself and the poignant CAMINO, from internationally acclaimed director Birgitte Stærmose, about a father and daughter who set out on the Camino de Santiago walking trail in Spain and explore family baggage and bonds.
Finally, we’re thrilled to present a deep dive into the dark side of Scandinavian Cinema with SCANDI SCREAMS, a selection of six films that examine the mysterious folklore traditions and mythology that have influenced and inspired filmmakers to shape an evolving genre over the last fifteen years.
Heading the lineup of cult classics is the Closing Night selection LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Låt den rätte komma in), celebrating its 15th anniversary. When Oskar, a shy 12-year-old boy meets the mysterious and moody Eli, their bond forever changes their lives in this influential tale of love that gets the blood pumping.
In the Academy Award nominated BORDER (Gräns), Tina, a customs officer, becomes attracted to a mysterious man who challenges her unusual abilities. The unique narrative pushes the boundaries of traditional storytelling, exploring universal themes of identity and acceptance.
Not to be missed is the director’s cut of Ari Aster’s MIDSOMMAR, featuring a breakout performance from Florence Pugh. A group of friends travel to a remote Swedish village to participate in a seemingly innocent midsummer festival that gradually turns into a disturbing and nightmarish experience.
The subversive Viking epic VALHALLA RISING stars Mads Mikkelsen as One Eye, a pagan warrior who escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land; RARE EXPORTS, is an inventive dark fantasy which follows the young Pietari who thinks a secret mountain drilling project has uncovered the tomb of Santa Claus and TROLL HUNTER (Trolljegeren), an adventurous fusion of folklore and fantasy, revolves around a secretive government employed troll hunter who is responsible for maintaining the troll population and protecting the public.
The 2023 Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival will take place from 13 July to 9 August.
2023 Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival
Melbourne: 13 July – 2 August, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema and The Astor Theatre
Sydney: 18 July – 9 August, Palace Norton, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema
Canberra: 19 July – 9 August, Palace Electric
Adelaide: 19 July – 9 August, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas
Brisbane: 19 July – 9 August, Palace James St, Palace Barracks
Perth: 20 July – 9 August, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX & Palace Raine Square
Byron Bay: 20 July – 9 August, Palace Byron Bay
www.scandinavianfilmfestival.com
