The fourteenth annual Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. comes to the Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills over two weekends: January 12-13, 19-20, 2013. The yearly showcase of Nordic films and filmmakers, launched in 2000, screens the year’s Scandinavian films submitted to the Academy as nominees for Best Foreign-Language Film as well as other current feature, documentary, and short films.
Saturday.January 19
11:30 am
CAPTAIN SANDHOLM
Documentary, Finland, 2012, 30 minutes, Johan Karrento
FREE with ticket to BALLROOM DANCER
12:00 pm
BALLROOM DANCER
Slavik is a former World Champion in Latin American Dance. About to make his final comeback with his partner Anna, Slavik is addicted to the limelight and the dance. His body, however, is causing him aches and pains and his flaring temper puts his relationship with Anna at stake. The pressure from outside and the demons within brings Slavik into an existential crisis as he strives for the throne one last time.
2:00 pm
MERCY
Polar night on the brink of the Arctic Ocean. A German family emigrates to start anew, in the most northern city in the world, Hammerfest. Instead, a horrible accident questions everything. What role does guilt play in regard to our happiness?
4:45 pm
PALME
25 years have passed since the February night when Olof Palme was shot dead on the streets of Stockholm, changing Sweden forever overnight. Palme is the film about his life and times, and about the Sweden he helped to create. A man who changed history.
7:00 pm
TREE PEOPLE
SWEA Los Angeles – grant presentation
Tree People, Sweden, Nanna Dalunde SWEA grant recipient
Free with ticket to GOOD LUCK AND TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER
7:30 PM
GOOD LUCK AND TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER
Alvar is a pensioner who hides his guilt by “constructing” fictitious memoirs. By chance he meets Miriam, a socially tone deaf and obstinate teenager, and they become friends. Their friendship deepens when they begin to inspire downhearted people with public art, and comes to a head when they themselves have to blossom.
Sunday.January 20
11:00 am
LOSS
Mentally ill young woman Valda convinces herself that a boy growing up in an orphanage is her child. Following the footsteps of a thousands Lithuanians, she immigrates to Ireland to earn money to save him. “Loss” portrays beauty and tragedy in the human heart.
1:00 pm
NAKED HARBOUR
Vuosaari is the last stop on the metroline, the beginning and the end of a journey. The film´s intertwined stories are about families and individuals, children and adults. They all need to be loved and touched.
3:30 pm
OSLO AUGUST 31
One day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.
5:30 pm
LIV & INGMAR
Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman met in 1964. They lived together for five years, had a child and in their lifetime made 12 films together. Now, almost five decades later, Ingmar is no more, but their love has never died. In this film we meet Liv Ullmann, spending some days with the film crew in Mr. Bergman’s famous house at Fårø, Sweden.
7:00 pm
9 METER
9 METER from director Anders Walter is on the “short list” of films under consideration for the “Best Live Action Short” Academy Award. The film comes to SFFLA from M&M Productions who have been recognized by the “Oscar” for their films – Election Night (1999), This Charming Man (2002), and The Next Tenant (2009).
7:30 pm
A ROYAL AFFAIR
A story about the dramatic love affair and political aspirations of Queen Caroline Mathilde and Johann Struensee, physician to the deranged King Christian VII of Denmark. Caroline and Johann dream of a better world for the populace, and through Johann’s influence on the King’s governance, the power of the aristocracy is diminished and reforms introduced. But it is only a matter of time before the courtiers regain a hold on their King.
Director Nikolaj Arcel will be at the screening for Q&A. Screenwriter Rasmus Heisterberg will be a guest of the festival on other days. Please read our review for A ROYAL AFFAIR.
