Scandinavian Film Festival

Scandinavian Film Festival Review: A Horrible Woman (En frygtelig kvinde) shows us all how not to have a relationship

It may be cliché to say, but it takes two to tango. That is certainly the environment that the film, A Horrible Woman (En frygtelig kvinde) operates in. This Danish dramedy is a provocative observation of a dysfunctional relationship. It is also one that will prompt some serious discussion by audiences in its wake. The…

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The annual Volvo Scandinavian Film Festival Returns to Palace cinemas!

Palace Cinema’s third annual Scandinavian Film Festival, sponsored by Volvo, opens around the country this July, offering a selection of 22 films from Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. Director Rune Denstad Langlo‘s sharp and insightful black comedy, Welcome to Norway will open the festival. The film follows an aspiring hotel owner who turns his half-built…

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Volvo film festival brings Scandinavian cinema down under this July

The third Volvo Scandinavian Film Festival to be presented by Palace cinema, plans to bring the best new films from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland to Palace screens this July. Having in the past decade pierced the western cannon with gritty stories Let The Right One In and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet…

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Film Review: Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words aka JAG ÄR INGRID (Sweden, 2015)

Hollywood charm and charisma just doesn’t exist the way it did in the Golden Age of Cinema.  The “It” Factor, that certain something that turns a simple screen test into an experience akin to finding cinematic gold, is now often replaced or loosely recreated through physical enhancements, as if Botox or a boob job is…

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Win a double pass to see Ingrid Bergman as part of the Scandinavian Film Festival!

The 2015 Scandinavian Film Festival is currently underway at cinemas around Australia, bringing audiences together to view some exemplary pieces of film from the other side of the globe. Continuing through until July 29th, the festival has already premiered some true highlights from some great European directors. One on the program’s exciting features this year…

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Scandinavian Film Festival Review: Paris of the North (Iceland, 2014)

Paris of the North is director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson‘s second feature film. His first feature was the Icelandic comedy Either Way, which was remade into the US film Prince Avalanche, directed by David Gordon Green. The film was written by Icelandic script writer and novelist Huldar Breidðfjörð. Long time actor and musician Helgi Björnsson plays the father (an unwanted guest); previously…

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Exclusive: National Festival Director of Palace Cinemas Elysia Zeccola Hill talks on the 2015 Scandinavian Film Festival

For another year, the diversity found in Scandinavian cinema is being celebrated across Australia with the Scandinavian Film Festival. The festival has currently began in Sydney and Melbourne and will be kicking off in other major Australian cities throughout this month. To learn more about the evolution of the festival and what we can expect…

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Full line-up announced for the Scandinavian Film Festival

The Scandinavian Film Festival is ecstatic to announce its full line-up of 22 feature films that are set to play at the festival this year, framed by the witty opening night comedy Here Is Harold (Her Er Harold) and closing night film Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (Jag ar Ingrid). This documentary is set…

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Film Review: Metalhead (Iceland, 2013)

In the bleak Icelandic countryside, Hera (Thora Bjorg Helga) lives with her brother Baldur and their parents on a dairy farm in a small, isolated community. After her brother dies in a tragic tractor accident, Hera immerses herself in the heavy metal culture that he loved so much. Throughout her teenage years, while her parents…

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Scandinavian Film Festival Review: Easy Money: Life Deluxe (Snabba cash III) (Sweden, 2013)

Here it is: the final installment in the Easy Money franchise: Life Deluxe. Old favourites are back, old scores need to be settled, and new players find themselves drawn into Sweden’s dark criminal underbelly. JW (Joel Kinnaman) is on the run after his successful robbery at the conclusion of Hard to Kill, and has made…

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Scandinavian Film Festival Review: Easy Money: Hard to Kill (Snabba cash II) (Sweden, 2012)

2010 film Easy Money was a runaway hit in Sweden (so much so that a US remake with Zac Efron is in the works). The film, based on the novel of the same name by Jens Lapidus, centred on Stockholm’s gangland wars, with multiple stories of the descent into darkness culminating in one fatal, climactic…

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Scandinavian Film Festival Review: Spooks and Spirits (Ófeigur gengur aftur) (Iceland, 2014)

Spooks and Spirits­ is the story of thirty-somethings Ingi (Gísli Örn Garðarsson) and Anna (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir), a happy couple on the verge of starting the next big chapter of their lives together. Anna’s father, Ófeigur (Þórhallur Sigurðsson) is recently deceased and the couple plans to sell his house in favour of somewhere more family-oriented. But when Ófeigur makes an…

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Scandinavian Film Festival Review: Easy Money (Snabba cash) (Sweden, 2010)

I’ve not watched a huge amount of Swedish cinema in my life, but the few films that I have watched have the same stylistic feature that has led me to believe something about Swedish dramas: that they are characterised by a distinct visual and narrative style based in honesty and stark realism. This realism is…

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Scandinavian Film Festival Review: Ballet Boys (Norway, 2014)

Performing arts has always been – and will always be – fertile ground for documentary filmmaking. Clashing egos and high stakes in the pursuit of a craft is always going to be fun for a camera to follow, and we’ve seen it work multiple times over in movies like Every Little Step, Mad Hot Ballroom,…

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Scandinavian Film Festival Review: Heart Of A Lion (Leijonasydän) (Finland & Sweden, 2013)

Heart Of A Lion (Leijonasydän) is a Finnish drama that asks the question, “Should you be ruled your head or by your heart?” It’s an age-old conflict and yet, this film manages to deal with this along with two sensitive and timely topics (racism and nationalism). Directed by Dome Karukoski, Heart Of A Lion is…

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The Inaugural Scandinavian Film Festival to Hit Australia in July

We may be on the opposite side of the world, but that doesn’t mean that Australia can’t enjoy the Scandinavian Film Festival, which will be premiering across the country in July. The inaugural festival is being presented by Palace Cinemas and the will be screened exclusively in their locations across the country. Attendees will be…

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