Nordic Cinema - Spring 2011 Collection

Details: Parent Category: Film Festivals; Category: Previews; Published on Wednesday, 23 March 2011 09:40; Written by Lynne Shannon

Nordic Cinema returns to Scandinavia House in Manhattan from March 23 - June 3, 2011, bringing some of the most The Escape [photo courtesy Nimbus Film] influential and successful Nordic films to New York audiences. This year's series features films from Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland and Iceland.

Finland

March 23 and March 25
Twisted Roots / Väärät juuret
dir. Saara Saarela
A family comes together during a father's hereditary illness, which compels the tighter keeping of secrets, curiosity about inheritance, and reevaluation of one's place in the family.

March 30 and April 2 (due to schedule conflict, Friday screening is moved to Saturday)
The Interrogation / Kuulustelu
dir. Jörn Donner
This true story explores the psychological as well as physical suffering of a captured spy during World War II. Kerttu Nuorteva, a Finnish-born Soviet citizen, was parachuted into Finland in 1942 and worked undercover for seven months until her arrest. She was eventually sentenced to death, but was saved when the Allies won the war.

April 20 and 22
Short Films from the Faroe Islands
An emerging group of filmmakers is determined to redefine and reestablish a stronger, more progressive Faroese cinema. Films from the past two years include:
Magma, dir. Marianna Mørkøre and Rannvá Káradóttir
The Passenger / Passasjeren, dir. Sakaris Fríði Stórá
Aldur/Waves - A Portrait of Maria á Heygum, dir. Heiðrikur á Heygum

Iceland

April 27 & April 29
Feathered Cocaine
dir. Þorkell Harðarson and Örn Marino Arnarson
This film relates the story Alan Howell Parrot, one of the world’s leading falcon trainers who had witnessed falcon smuggling after the Soviet collapse and co-founded a global conservation group to protect the falcons. He had worked with powerful connections in the Middle East, where he trained hunting falcons for the Persian Gulf power elite -- including, no less, Osama bin Laden, an obsessed falconer. Parrot relayed this information to various agencies within the Bush administration from 2005-2008 but only met silence or obstruction. Nobody tried to speak to the one man who claims he has gone falconry hunting with Osama Bin Laden six times since 2004. In 2009, Parrot submitted his findings to the Rewards for Justice Program and to date has not heard back.

May 4 & May 6
King’s Road / Kóngavegur
dir. Valdís Óskarsdóttir
A young man returns home to Iceland with a " mysterious German acquaintance" in the hope of financial assistance, only to find the family manse is now a small mobile home in a rundown trailer park and the relatives -- his father, stepmother and grandmother -- are not as he remembers them. Tennessee Williams meets the Fockers?

May 11 & May 13
Mr. Bjarnfredarson / Bjarnfreðarson
dir. Ragnar Bragason The Interrogation
Three losers -- Georg, on parole after a long stay in jail for murder, Daniel, who Georg tried to frame for the murder he committed, and Ólafur, a former co-worker of the two who can't hold down a job for more than a few weeks -- live together in Daniel's house, naturally with chaotic results.

Screens with short film, Clean
dir. Ísold Uggadóttir
A young woman struggles to conceal a growing habit while carrying on as a charming dance instructor for the elderly.

Denmark

May 18 & May 20
Little Soldier / Lille soldat
dir. Annette K. Olesen
Lotte, a hard-drinking veteran of the war in Afghanistan, is trying to earn her living and must fall back on her father's side business working as a driver. She chauffeurs his mistress, a lovely Nigerian woman, who seems Lotte's total opposite -- until they get to know each other and start to form a bond.

May 25 & May 27
The Red Chapel / Det røde kapel
dir. Mads Brügger Little Soldier [photo courtesy Zentropa Entertainments]
For anyone who missed this film at ReelAbilities, or the Korean American Film Festival last week, here is another chance to catch it. A journalist with no scruples and two Danish/Korean comedians -- one a self-proclaimed "spastic" with cerebral palsy -- travel to North Korea under the guise of cultural exchange. What they really want to do, of course, is expose the policies and actions of "Dear Leader" against the disabled. Do try to see it this time.

June 1 & June 3
The Escape / Flugten
dir. Kathrine Windfeld
Based on Olav Hergel’s 2006 novel The Refugee / Flygtningen
A journalist is taken hostage in Afghanistan by terrorists, but one of them helps her to escape. He later turns up in Denmark, seeking her out, and she at a loss to know what to do. Both are compelled to examine their respective inner demons.

For more information, visit www.scandinaviahouse.org/events_films_upcoming.html.

New Nordic Cinema
March 23 - June 3, 2011
Wednesday and Friday evenings
(except April 6 &8 and April 13 &15)

Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America
38 Park Avenue (@ 38th Street)
New York, NY 10016
212-847-9717