In true Scandinavian style, guests of the 2015 Scandinavian Film Festival’s Brisbane leg were treated to a smorgasbord of open sandwiches, pastries and a decadent selection of the very best films on offer from the far north.
Featuring movies from Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Brisbane’s Palace Centro Cinemas were packed at the festival’s opening night in celebration of its second year of running.
The Scandinavians have slowly been making their mark on Australian TV screens over the last few years with a number of exciting crimi-drama series such as Denmark’s ‘Borgen’ and Swedish-Danish production ‘The Bridge’ ('Broen') taking audiences by storm.
With this newfound attention on Scandinavian drama, it’s not surprising audiences are now turning to the big screen with keen interest to see what the Vikings of the north have to offer, with movies ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ and ‘Troll Hunter’ proving hugely successful around the world.
As this year’s opening night film, ‘Here Is Harold’ ('Her Er Harold') is the sweet and funny tale of Norwegian furniture maker Harold Lunde (Olaf Heggdal) who after 40 years of dedicating his life to his craft, sees the demise of his empire in a matter of months after the establishment of a new Ikea store right next to his building.
In a series of unfortunate events, Harold decides to take matters into his own hands, devising a fanciful plan to kidnap the CEO if Ikea – Ingvar Kamprad (Bjorn Granath) – which leads to even more ridiculous adventures for the embattled Norwegian.
Other films set to attract crowds are closing night feature, ‘Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words’ ('Jar Ar Ingrid') – a documentary that looks at the Hollywood superstar’s epic career and the remarkable life of a young Swedish girl who went on to become one of the most celebrated actresses both in America and in Europe.
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Danish film ‘All Inclusive’ from famous Danish Director, Hella Joof, is the hilarious story of Lise (Bodil Jorgensen) who reluctantly agrees to go on a holiday with her daughters to Malta to forget reality for a little while after being dropped by her husband. Featuring as the 2015 Scandinavian Film Festival special event, ‘All Inclusive’ stays true to its Danish style, with plenty of dry humour, naked bits and ‘straight up’ language.
'Here Is Harold' is currently screening the 2015 Scandinavian Film Festival.
Scandinavian Film Festival Dates
QLD – 16-26 JulyNSW – 8-26 July
VIC – 9-26 July
ACT 14-26 July
Byron Bay – 17-23 July
SA – 22-29 July
WA – 23-29 July
TAS – 23-29 July
