Box seat: Scandi noir the perfect winter warmer
Festival director Elysia Zeccola invites you to plunge into a fascinating cultural journey through Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland at this year’s Scandinavian Film Festival.
Even though Aussies might’ve felt that the temperatures the past few weeks have been icy, it’s a reality check to watch films from the Scandinavian Film Festival. Witnessing the overwhelming grandeur of wintery landscapes in countries such as Iceland, Norway and Finland makes you realise what the definition of winter really is. And it’s often spectacular.
Festival director Elysia Zeccola, who’s been in the job for 11 years, says the presence of the festival’s new naming rights sponsor, Hurtigruten, might even inspire audiences to book a cruise from the Norwegian travel company once they see what they could be experiencing in person.
The Mountain (Fjallið) will surely get audiences along, curious to see the daughter of iconic Icelandic singer Björk – ĺsadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney – showing her acting and singing chops. It’s probably best not to get too excited about the music side of things, as that’s rather more pedestrian than Björk’s output, but Bjarkardóttir Barney’s acting alongside her screen father, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, conveys the strong and complex emotions required.
The story is of a father-daughter relationship as the pair navigate a life-changing event after their astronomer wife and mother goes away for a trip to observe a comet. The Mountain is written and directed by Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir, and it’s worth noting that she’s in her 70s. Another interesting point is that it’s been awarded the Green Film Sustainability certification – the first instance in Iceland of a film being classified as completely sustainable.
Number 24 is based on a true story of an accountant who joins a resistance movement
Opening Night film is Number 24 (Nr. 24), a Norwegian spy thriller. For your ticket price, you’ll enjoy a pre-film reception with Nordic flavours, an elderflower cocktail or mocktail, or wine, plus a mystery cinema treat courtesy of Lexus. The film is from multi-award-winning director John Andreas Andersen (The Burning Sea, The Quake).
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Says Zeccola: “WWII was right on the Nordic country’s doorstep, and Number 24 is based on a true story of an accountant who joins a resistance movement.”
Zeccola is also excited about another Norgwegian film, Sentimental Value, from director, Joachim Trier, and starring Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning. “Trier’s debut film, The Worst Person in the World, was a huge breakaway,” she says. “This is a highly anticipated film from him and again pairs him with the star, Renate Reinsve.”
Described as an intimate drama and a moving exploration of family, memories and the reconciliatory power of art, Sentimental Value won the prestigious Grand Prix at Cannes International Film Festival this year. Skarsgård plays a fading film director who wants his estranged actress daughter to play the lead role in his new film. After she refuses, he offers the part to an American actor (Fanning).
Denmark’s offerings include The Last Paradise on Earth, from the Faroe Islands, which are part of the Danish territories. Writer/director Sakaris Stórá has created a beautifully evocative, if slow-moving tale starring Sámal H. Hansen as Kári, a worker in a fish factory who, unlike many of his peers, doesn’t feel the need to explore life beyond this grey, windswept place.
But the future is uncertain with the factory possibly closing down. Grieving the loss of his mother, he has an attachment to his home and its memories of her.
Hansen has a compelling screen presence with a touch of a young Robert Pattinson about him, and if you can go with the glacial pace, the film offers its rewards, including a spirited performance from Bjøg B. Egholm as his sister, Silja.
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Quisling: The Final Days (Quislings siste dager), is this year’s Special Presentation, another choice from Norway. Set in 1945 and directed by Erik Poppe (The King’s Choice), the story follows the post-liberation trial of Vidkun Quisling, Norway’s controversial head of state.
Says Zeccola: “This is a highly awarded film and the critics love it. Quisling has become synonymous with the word ‘traitor’ because he was a Nazi sympathiser. It’s very well acted.”
The film is inspired by the diary of a priest, Peder Olsen, who visited Quisling in prison. It has Gard B. Eidsvold in the eponymous role, while Lisa Carlehed has been acclaimed as his wife, Maria.
Closing Night film is Iceland’s Grand Finale (Fullt Hús), which was a huge hit in its home country. A black comedy, it’s about a near-bankrupt chamber orchestra that, in an effort to secure their future, enlists the services of a famous cellist, only for him to make things go from bad to worse. Sigurjón Kjartannson, a well-known writer, musician and radio personality, wrote and directed it.
A highlight of the festival will be the return screening of When the Light Breaks (Ljósbrot) – about a young woman whose conscience and resilience are tested over a long summer’s day in Iceland –which recently won Best Nordic Film at the 2025 Göteborg Film Festival. It screened to great acclaim at last year’s festival but didn’t get a general cinema release.
“People didn’t realise it was so good,” says Zeccola. “So I had the idea that we should have an encore screening this year.”
But wait, there’s more! So, check out 2025 Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival to see the films and to buy tickets.
The 2025 Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival runs in Brisbane, July 23 to August 14, at Palace James St and Palace Barracks cinemas; and in Adelaide, July 23 to August 13, at Palace Nova Eastend and Palace Nova Prospect cinemas.