Celebrating its tenth year, the 2024 Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival has a stellar line-up showcasing the best new cinema from the Nordic region.
The festival will screen films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden at Palace Cinemas, Luna Palace Cinemas and Palace Nova Cinemas from July to August.
Here are our top picks of the fest for your consideration:
The Riot (Norway)
This year’s Festival will open with the epic historical drama The Riot, directed by Academy Award nominated Nils Gaup (The Last King). Young miner Konrad Nilsson dreams of a better life. Working conditions are brutal for the laborers, and faced with oppression, slave labour and the brutality of capitalism, the mine workers decide to stand together in a revolt against the mining company and its ruthless leader Wennstrøm (Berger). This important part of Norwegian history has never been told on screen before and tells the origin story of the Norwegian labour movement which planted the seed for workers’ rights in the region.
Leningrad Cowboys Go America (Finland)
Spotlight screenings will mark the 35th anniversary of international breakout hit Leningrad Cowboys Go America from renowned Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki. This classic road movie from the Finnish deadpan master follows the adventures of an inept Siberian rock ’n’ roll band as they head to the USA in search of fame.
Somewhere in the tundra, in no-man’s land, lives the worst band in the world, an outfit with no audience and absolutely no commercial potential. Yet they long for success, so when their manager suggests they head to the USA, the band is prepared to sacrifice their cultural identity for a shot at the big-time.
When The Light Breaks (Iceland)
Direct from the 2024 Cannes Film Festival where it opened the Un Certain Regard section, When The Light Breaks, directed by Rúnar Rúnarrson, is a poignant drama set between two sunsets. From one sunset to another, young art student Una (a remarkable Elín Hall) is on a rollercoaster ride of emotion as she navigates a series of challenging events swirling around her. A tragic event forces her to bond with a new group of friends and as she grapples with grief, she also harbours a secret and is unable to fully express her emotions.
Sons (Denmark)
Idealistic Eva (Babette Knudsen) works in the minimum-security ward of a correctional facility, overseeing the incarcerated men with an almost maternalistic sense of compassion, guiding them in meditations and showing genuine interest in their wellbeing. But all this changes when Mikkel (Sebastian Bull), a repeat offender, is transferred to the facility, and Eva requests to be reassigned to his high-security block. So begins an unsettling and dangerous game of cat and mouse in which Eva’s increasingly unhealthy preoccupation with Mikkel challenges her belief in restorative justice.
Eternal (Denmark)
In this science fiction epic a young climate change scientist, Elias (Simon Sears) falls in love with an aspiring singer, Anita (Nanna Øland Fabricius, better known as Danish pop star Oh Land). But, he chooses his career over love when an opportunity arises for him to join a mission researching a mysterious fracture on the Atlantic Ocean floor, a phenomenon he has been obsessed with for years. The fissure accelerates global climate change and is a threat to humanity. Years later, during a deep-sea mission, Elias experiences a vision of what his life could have been like if he had made a different choice.
Paradise is Burning (Sweden)
In a working-class area of Sweden, sisters 16-year-old Laura (Bianca Delbravo), twelve-year-old Mira, and seven-year-old Steffi get by on their own, left to their own devices by an absent mother. With summer on the way, life is wild and carefree. But when social services demand a family meeting, the eldest, Laura, must find someone to impersonate their mother, or else the girls could be taken into foster care and separated. While their futures hang in the balance, soon the three sisters are forced to negotiate the fine line between the euphoria of total freedom and the harsh realities of growing up.
The Tundra Within Me (Norway)
After living for many years in Oslo, Sámi artist Lena (Risten Anine Kvernmo Gaup) moves back to Sápmi in Northern Norway with her young son to explore Sámi gender in an art project. While researching in the wintry tundra, she falls in love with hardworking reindeer herder Máhtte (Nils Ailu Kemi). Lena is suffocated by the expectations of others in the town, who view her as an outsider, and Máhtte’s mother, the matriarch of the family, disapproves of the relationship. As decisions from the past come to haunt her and her art is questioned, Lena struggles to find out whether her and Máhtte’s lifestyles can ever be compatible.
Death Is A Problem For The Living (Finland)
Risto (Pekka Strang) and Arto have found themselves in a situation where everything has gone wrong, and they desperately need a fresh start. Risto is addicted to gambling and his marriage is in crisis. Arto recently discovered that he was born with 85% less brain than the average person, and as a result has been abandoned by everyone. Broken and ridiculed, their situation is not entirely hopeless as the two men band together to become the cheapest drivers in the hearse business. When they try to find a solution to their problems, in their quest to win back what they have lost, they will risk everything and put their own lives on the line.
Cries and Whispers (Sweden)
In turn-of-the-century Sweden, cancer-stricken, dying Agnes is visited in her isolated rural mansion by her sisters Karin and Maria. As Agnes’ condition deteriorates and pain management becomes increasingly more difficult, fear and revulsion grip the sisters, who seem incapable of empathy, and Agnes’ only comfort and solace comes from her maid Anna. As the end draws closer, long repressed feelings of grudging resentment and mistrust cause jealousy, selfishness, and bitterness between the siblings to surface.
Touch (Iceland)
Spanning several decades and continents, we follow 70-year-old widower Kristófer (Egill Ólafsson) who embarks on a remarkable journey to London right when the pandemic hits. 50 years earlier, as an economics student in London, young Kristófer (Pálmi Kormákur) meets his first love, Miko (played by model and songwriter Kōki), in a Japanese restaurant. Their love blossoms, but one day Miko suddenly disappears without a trace. Decades later, with time ticking away, Kristófer is on a quest to track down Miko to find out what happened to her. From London, his journey takes him halfway across the globe and all the way to Japan.
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The Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival dates are:
Adelaide: 17 July – 7 August, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas
Brisbane: 18 July – 7 August, Palace James St, Palace Barracks
Melbourne: 19 July – 7 August, Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Palace Penny Lane, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema and The Astor Theatre
Sydney: 24 July – 14 August, Palace Norton St, Palace Moore Park, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema
Canberra: 25 July – 14 August, Palace Electric
Perth: 25 July – 14 August, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX and Palace Raine Square
Byron Bay and Ballina: 26 July – 14 August, Palace Byron Bay, Ballina Fair Cinemas
The 2024 Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival will take place from 17 July to 14 August. For more information, visit scandinavianfilmfestival.com.
