Five Must-See Films at the 2017 Scandinavian Film Festival

Of course the Scandinavian Film Festival takes place in winter. When it's frosty across Australia, watching films set in snowy Nordic climes just feels appropriate. As many a cultural film fest offers, it's the next best thing to jumping on a plane and heading to the top of the world (it's also much, much cheaper).

Now enjoying its fourth outing, the 2017 festival gets the Scandi celebrations started with international festival hit The Other Side of Hope, then works through the best flicks that Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden currently have to offer. Odes to real-life figures, heart-stirring dramas, explorations of indigenous plights, brooding murder mysteries and the politics of war are all included — and all make our top five picks of this year's program.

TOM OF FINLAND

How does someone become known simply by their first name and homeland? Tom of Finland has the answer. The biographical film delves into the story of, yes, Tom of Finland, aka Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen. A pseudonym became another became a legend for the man who survived World War II, struggled to be himself in a country where homosexuality was illegal, and then became an emblem for sexual freedom. Director Dome Karukoski relays his tale with passion, as does Pekka Strang, as well as shining a bigger spotlight on Tom of Finland's provocative output.

A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH

Nordic noir is the genre that keeps on giving, be it on the page, on TV or in cinemas. Jumping from books to films, Denmark's Department Q series continues to sit at the centre of the Scandinavian-set crime wave — and, the great thing about adapting a multi-tome effort is the multiple movies that follow. Fans of previous Scandinavian Film Festival titles The Keeper of Lost Causes and The Absent One will be ready and waiting to chart detectives Carl Mørck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and Assad's (Fares Fares) latest exploits, while newcomers can still jump right into the procedural action. As the title gives away, this time faith plays a big part in their new mystery, and how they approach the case.

HEARTSTONE

When Heartstone premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, it was a debut effort exploring the connection between two childhood pals against a stunning Icelandic backdrop. Now making its way to Australia, it's an international film fest smash. Of course, the former still rings true, as told with intimacy, precision and overwhelming sincerity. Here, best friends Thor and Christian work through the conflicts of growing up, going after love and not always getting what they want — or understanding their bond with each other.

SAMI BLOOD

In the 1930s, teenage reindeer herder Elle Marja (Lene Cecilia Sparrok) is removed from her family. The reason? She's Sámi, a member of the area's indigenous people. Taking children from their culture in an attempt to assimilate them into Swedish life was common practice at the time — and yes, that kind of oppression should sound familiar to Australian audiences. Sámi director Amanda Kernell steps through a stirring tale that proves revelatory in more ways than one, while also making a star out of Sparrok, a reindeer herder herself.

Sami Blood screens in Sydney and Brisbane only. Melbourne movie buffs — watch this space.

THE KING'S CHOICE

Shortlisted in this year's foreign-language category at the Academy Awards, and based on real events, World War II effort The King's Choice finds a personal way to tell an epic story. Two nations face off, with Germany invading Norway, but one man has to find a way forward. Sure, he's the democratically elected monarch, but that doesn't make his complicated decision any less involving. Taking its time to piece its parts together, his experiences make for the kind of drama that builds towards a stirring resolution.

The Scandinavian Film Festival tours the country between July 11 and August 6, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from July 11 to August 2, Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay and Palace Westgarth from July 13 to August 2, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks from July 20 to August 6. For the full program, visit the festival website.