Nordic cinema in Rome with the Nordic Film Fest

by Vittoria Scarpa

26/04/2012 - 19 films, of which 17 in Italian premiere, from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, documentaries, shorts, tributes and public events: the Nordic Film Fest starts out under the most auspicious circumstances. The festival's first edition will take place in Rome's Casa del Cinema from May 3-6, 2012 and is an opportunity for Italians to strengthen their knowledge of film in Nordic countries, promoted and coordinated by the Nordic embassies in Italy.

Guests include multi award-winning Swedish actress and director Pernilla August (photo), who will be in Rome to present two films in which she stars, Håkon Liu's Miss Kicki [trailer], opening film, and Per Fly's Manslaughter [trailer], as well as her directing debut, Beyond, with Noomi Rapace, winner of the Venice Critics' Week in 2010. Finnish director Zaida Bergroth brings her film, The Good Son [trailer], winner of the Hugo Award at the Chicago Film Festival 2011. Also in Rome will be Swedish director Lisa Ohlin, who will introduce the closing film, Simon and the Oaks [trailer], nominated for 13 Swedish Oscars this year. Finally, the event will also host Norway's Nils Gaup, who will be presenting his film The Kautokeino Rebellion [trailer], starring Mikael Persbrandt (In a Better World [trailer]).

The packed programme of premieres also features Submarino [trailer, film focus] by Thomas Vinterberg (competing in Cannes with The Hunt in May), Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising [trailer, film focus] (Best Director at Cannes 2011 for Drive) and Family Business, 1993 film by Oscar-winning Susanne Bier. The Nordic FF will also pay tribute to Erland Josephson, Bergman's most famous starring actor who recently passed away, with the screening of Scene da un matrimonio, directed by the master of Swedish cinema.

Worth noting among the documentaries, Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjärne's Sound of Noise [trailer] (award-winner in Cannes 2010), an original musical odyssey in which any object, even one found in an operating room, can become an instrument in the hands of a drummer.

The screenings will all be in original language with Italian subtitles and entrance will be free. The event is organised by the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden with the collaboration of the respective countries' Film Institutes, the Swedish Institute, VisitSweden, VisitNorway and with the support and sponsorship of Rome's Department for Cultural Politics and Historical Centre. Next year, say the organisers, could also include Iceland and open up to other forms of art. To view the programme in full, see here.

(Translated from Italian)