Calling All Nordic Cinema Fans: Australia's Scandinavian Film Festival Has Dropped Its 2022 Lineup
This year's festival will feature 19 new and classic films, primarily hailing from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
It's the frostiest of Australia's annual film festivals for two reasons — the time of year it arrives, and the region it showcases — and it's back for 2022 with another round of recent and retro flicks. That'd be the Scandinavian Film Festival, which naturally hits cinemas around the country each winter. Well, winter Down Under, that is.
This year's fest will play 19 titles, primarily hailing from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with the program touring the nation between Tuesday, July 12–Wednesday, August 10. That gives film buffs in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Byron Bay around a month — three weeks in some places — to get their Nordic movie fix, whether you're keen on a historical epic or a dive into Scandi cinema history.
Yes, blasts from the pasts are a feature of the 2022 lineup — starting with opening night's Margrete — Queen of the North. Starring Trine Dyrholm (The Commune) and directed by Charlotte Sieling (Lovecraft Country, Homeland), the historical drama is set in 1402, and hones in on Denmark's Queen Margrete, who oversaw the Kalmar Union that brought together Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Also peering backwards: the Scandi Screen Sirens selection, which celebrates leading ladies from times gone by — all in classics. So, you'll catch Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, Greta Garbo in Queen Christina and Britt Ekland in The Wicker Man. There's also two Liv Ullmann films: The Serpent's Egg, directed by iconic Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman; plus The New Land, the 1972 gem in the festival's closing night slot.
Elsewhere, the program includes Dyrholm again in A Matter of Trust, which heads to Australia straight from premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival; Finnish effort The Woodcutter's Story, which played the 2022 Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week; and The Emigrants, a new adaptation of Vilhelm Moberg's novels. The latter first hit the screen in 1971, in a film of the same name — to which the aforementioned The New Land was a sequel.
From a selection of 19 flicks all up, there's also the Danish boarding school-set Pretty Young Thing, which will have its world premiere at the fest; psychological drama Quake from Iceland; Berlinale Crystal Bear Award-winner Comedy Queen, about a 13-year-old girl who wants to be a stand-up comedian; and documentary Nordic by Nature, which was filmed in the Faroe Islands, including in its seafood industry, and also covers two-star Michelin restaurant KOKS.
And if Scandinavian talent has you thinking of Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, he's accounted for A Taste of Hunger from Denmark. It's about the quest for a Michelin star, actually, with the drama following a couple determined to get one for their restaurant.
SCANDINAVIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2022 DATES:
- July 12–August 7: Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney
- July 13–August 7: Palace Electric, Canberra
- July 14–August 7: The Astor Theatre, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Palace Balwyn and Pentridge Cinema, Melbourne
- July 19–August 10: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Adelaide
- July 20–August 10: Palace Raine Square Cinemas, Luna Leederville and Luna on SX, Perth
- July 20–August 10: Palace Barracks and Palace James Street, Brisbane
- July 22–August 10: Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay
The Scandinavian Film Festival tours Australia from Tuesday, July 12–Wednesday, August 10. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the festival's website.
