Scandinavia House

AURORA | ESTONIAN CULTURAL DAYS
2025-04-06 13:30 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Celebrate Estonian Cultural Days on April 6 with a screening of the suspenseful new love story Aurora! Director Rain Tolk will be present for a film talk and Q&A following the screening.
Aurora (Maarja Johanna Mägi), the daughter of the religious leader Valdek, enters into a secret extramarital affair with Lenny (Jörgen Liik), which ultimately ends with a discovery that collapses her world. Years later, at a family wedding anniversary celebration with her husband Joonas, Aurora receives a message that rips open old wounds; which doesn’t go unnoticed by Joonas. As Aurora strives to present a celebration of family values, an unexpected visitor arrives. As secrets come to light, the seemingly harmonious family’s facade shows its cracks, and she must make a difficult decision.
Aurora shows love as a tragic chasm between uncontrollable explosion of desire and love as a earthly, self-conscious decision. (Dir. Rain Tolk & Andres Maimik, Estonia, 2025)

WATCH WOODCARVER PEKKA OLSON AT WORK!
2025-04-05 16:00 - 18:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Come and watch Finnish-American woodcarver Pekka Olson as he brings a bird to life! Questions encouraged.

WORKING WITH WOOD | NORDIC ECHOES PANEL DISCUSSION
2025-04-05 15:00 - 16:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
In celebration of the Opening Weekend of Nordic Echoes — Tradition in Contemporary Art, the first major traveling exhibition of contemporary Nordic artist traditions from the Upper Midwest, join us for a panel discussion with four artists featured in the show: Kjetil “K.J.” Groven, Beth Kraus, Peter “Pekka” Olson, and Sonja Peterson. Folklorist Victoria Stewart (Assistant Director, Wayne State University Humanities Center) will moderate a conversation about their works in the show and their respective practices, with a particular emphasis on wood.

SOLD OUT — BIRCH BARK STAR-WEAVING WORKSHOP
2025-04-05 11:00 - 14:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
*This event is now sold out.* Workshops will continue throughout the run of Nordic Echoes; see a full list here.
Discover the beauty and versatility of birth bark in a Nordic Echoes workshop with artist Beth Homa Kraus! Through careful folding, a bit of string, and plenty of patience, we’ll craft stunning Northern-inspired star ornaments to hang or gift. Learn about the harvest and process of birch bark while creating timeless treasures in this hands-on class!
All materials and tools will be provided. Students will each leave with one birch bark star. Note: a beeswax and walnut-oil mixture is used to condition the bark; please be mindful if allergies apply. This workshop is for ages 16+ and is limited to 10 participants; please enroll early to guarantee attendance.

HAMMARSKJÖLD - FIGHT FOR PEACE
2025-04-02 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
“A stylish historical lesson and an homage (ScreenAnarchy)” — Iconic actor Mikael Persbrandt (The Kingdom Exodus) stars in the gripping true story of the man John F. Kennedy once called “the greatest statesman of our century,” Dag Hammarskjöld.
New York City, 1961. At the peak of the Cold War, the charismatic diplomat and economist Dag Hammarskjöld has reached the pinnacle of his power, serving in his seventh year as Secretary-General of the United Nations. During the process of decolonization, he takes it upon himself to bring peace to the African countries, thwarting plans to further exploit resources of both powerful entrepreneurs and world leaders. Meanwhile, a visit from his old friend Peter turns his life upside down, and Dag begins questioning his unprecedented devotion and dedication to his job and vision. But when UN peacekeepers are killed in open battle in the Congo, the Secretary-General sees no other way than to impose peace by new measures, leading the UN troops on their first war mission. As he boards a a plane to negotiate a case-fire, Hammarskjöld is aware that enemies are plotting against him…
Based on historical facts and including the results of the most recent investigations, this political thriller puts one of mankind’s most respected diplomats into the limelight (dir. Per Fly, Sweden, 2023).
“A measured, respectful drama…there is a crisp elegance to the storytelling that seeks to match Hammarskjold’s personality” (Allan Hunter, Screendaily)

GREENLAND: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE | VIRTUAL PANEL
2025-04-02 12:00 - 13:15 | NY
On Wednesday, April 2, ASF and Scandinavia House present a virtual panel discussion with panelists Ulrik Pram Gad (Senior Researcher on Arctic identity, diplomacy and security, the Danish Institute of International Studies) and journalist and historian Gordon F. Sander on the past, present and future of Greenland. With moderator Thorsten Wagner (Danish-German historian and Executive Director of FASPE), the panelists will discuss topics including Greenlandic history, current debates in relation to Denmark and global actors, the recent parliamentary elections, and their political implications.
Please note that this panel is now scheduled for 12 PM EDT.
This panel will take place via Zoom; advance registration recommended.
Register

INTERCEPTED
2025-03-27 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
See three of the shortlisted finalists for this year’s LUX Audience Awards this season at Scandinavia House! On March 27 we’ll be screening Intercepted, a documentary by Oksana Karpovych contrasting quiet compositions of everyday Ukrainian life since the full-scale invasion with intercepted phone conversations between Russian soldiers and their families.
What drives the people who come to your country to wage war? Intercepted is an attempt to find an answer by showing two parallel worlds. The camera registers images of destruction in unhurried shots, in which we see Ukrainian villages, towns, houses and motorways after their liberation from the Russian occupation. We look closely – not into the abyss of destruction and death, but rather at landscapes being filled again with life. This gives hope and serves to balance out the media’s normalization of horror. They are frames set against the flood of images. Throughout the film, the soundtrack forms a shocking counterpoint. We listen to the recordings of telephone conversations intercepted in 2022 by the Ukrainian Secret Service between Russian soldiers in trenches in Ukraine and their families. It is hard to decide which element is more devastating: the soldiers’ confessions of the rape, looting and brutal torture of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war or the (mainly) female voices from “back home” that bear witness to chauvinism and hatred, disinformation and schizophrenic propaganda. Sound and image stare each other in the face, stunned, brought together in a cinematic space.
This event has been organized by the European Parliament in partnership with Scandinavia House. The LUX Audience Award is a joint initiative of the European Parliament and the European Film Academy in collaboration with the European Commission and Europa Cinemas. It is the largest audience award worldwide and the only film prize in the world where citizens together with Members of the European Parliament — with each group weighting 50 percent — can decide who the winner will be by rating the nominated films online. The LUX Audience Award fosters dialogue and engagement between politics and the public through the medium of film. The nominated films address European values and raise awareness about some of today’s main social and political issues such as mental health, poverty, climate change, freedom of expression, gender equality, and LGBTIQ+ rights.

SONS
2025-03-26 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On March 26, see the gripping Danish psychological prison drama Sons, Gustav Möller’s long-awaited follow-up to The Guilty, in New Nordic Cinema!
Sons stars Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen) as Eva, an idealistic officer working in an all-male prison, where she is compassionate towards her wards. But she is faced with the dilemma of her life when a young man from her past is transferred to her wing. Without revealing her secret, Eva asks to be moved to the young man’s ward — the toughest and most violent in the prison — leading to an unsettling psychological game. Eva’s sense of justice puts both her morality and future at stake.
“Grippingly claustrophobic” (IndieWire)

HUMOR IN MUSIC
2025-03-25 19:30 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Internationally acclaimed pianist Jeffrey Siegel returns this fall for his ever-popular Keyboard Conversations® series at Scandinavia House. Each evening comprises an informal commentary on the music and its composers, a full performance of each work, and a short Q & A session. The engaging format both makes friends of classical music and enriches the listening experience for avid music lovers.
Tonight’s program will consist of the delightful music of Beethoven, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and the Danish composer Niels Gade!

Thanks to a generous loan by Victor Borge’s grandson Finn, concerts will be performed on Victor Borge’s personal Steinway piano.
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MOVING STORIES | SCREENING & FILM TALK
2025-03-19 18:30 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us for a screening and film talk on Moving Stories, an award-winning documentary about an acclaimed American dance company traveling the world to work with at-risk youth, teaching them the tools of choreography so they can tell their stories through dance. Filmmakers Mikael Södersten & Cornelia Ravenal will be present for a film talk and Q&A following the screening with Jonathan Hollander (founder, Battery Dance Company) and Tadej Brdnik (dancer/teaching artist). Erik Ullenhag, Counsel General of Sweden in New York, will also be present for an introduction before the screening. Reception to follow.
In this moving and inspiring documentary, six professional dancers from the acclaimed Battery Dance company travel the world, working with young people who’ve experienced war, poverty, sexual violence and severe trauma as refugees. The goal: to teach them the tools of choreography so that they can tell their stories through dance. With only a week to prepare for public performance, the film captures the struggle, frustration, determination, and transformation of students and teachers alike, ultimately unlocking feelings and stories in wellsprings of creativity (A film by Rob Fruchtman, Cornelia Ravenal, Mikael Södersten, and Wendy Sax).
“A brilliant new documentary that shows dance is a soft power supporting people that political and social failures have hurt” (Psychology Today).

THE BLACK ANGEL + 12 MINUTES | WEST NORDIC FILM DAYS
2025-03-15 18:30 - 20:30 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on March 14 & 15 for the festival West Nordic Film Days, a celebration of cinema from Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands! Presented in partnership with Nordic National Museum in Seattle, in-person screenings will take place at Scandinavia House in New York and Majestic Bay Theatres in Seattle on Friday and Saturday. Curated by Birgir Thor Møller, the selection of films at West Nordic Film Days reflect the current development and tendencies in West Nordic cinema as well as the diversity, combining films by prolific, prizewinning directors and upcoming filmmakers, who all live in and tell their stories from very different parts of the region.
The 6:30 PM afternoon session on Saturday, March 15 will include the Greenlandic feature film Inngili Qernertoq (The Black Angel, dir. Malik Kleist, 2024) and the Greenlandic short film 12 Minutes (dir. Christoffer Rizvanovic Stenbakken, 2024).
Inspired by The Blair Witch Project, Inngili Qernertoq juxtaposes personal and comical footage with creepy horror as investigators discover video recordings from a group of friends who have gone missing in the mountains near Nuuk. And in the black-and-white short 12 Minutes, a couple wake up one night to discover their drug-addicted son in the house, and must make a difficult decision.

WEST NORDIC FILM DAYS
2025-03-15 18:00 - 21:00, 2025-03-14 19:00 - 2025-03-15 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on March 14 & 15 for the festival West Nordic Film Days, a celebration of cinema from Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands! Presented in partnership with Nordic National Museum in Seattle, in-person screenings will take place at Scandinavia House in New York and Majestic Bay Theatres in Seattle on Friday and Saturday.
The West Nordic countries have attracted foreign filmmakers since the dawn of cinema. In the late 1970s, however, Iceland began to develop a national film industry, gaining domestic and international attention and recognition. The history of Greenlandic, Faroese and Sami film production is of a bit later date, yet in recent years an increasing number of their films have attracted attention, both at home and abroad. Curated by Birgir Thor Møller, the selection of films at West Nordic Film Days will not only reflect the current development and tendencies in West Nordic cinema, but also the diversity, combining films by prolific, prizewinning directors and upcoming filmmakers, who all live in and tell their stories from very different parts of the region.
A full schedule and tickets will be announced shortly; check back for details.
Photo: Northern lights in Klaksvik, Faroe Islands; Photo by Alessio Mesiano / @Alessio Mesiano

WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS + O | WEST NORDIC FILM DAYS
2025-03-15 16:15 - 18:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on March 14 & 15 for the festival West Nordic Film Days, a celebration of cinema from Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands! Presented in partnership with Nordic National Museum in Seattle, in-person screenings will take place at Scandinavia House in New York and Majestic Bay Theatres in Seattle on Friday and Saturday. Curated by Birgir Thor Møller, the selection of films at West Nordic Film Days reflects the current development and tendencies in West Nordic cinema as well as the diversity, combining films by prolific, prizewinning directors and upcoming filmmakers, who all live in and tell their stories from very different parts of the region.
The 4:15 PM afternoon session on Saturday, March 15 will include the feature film When the Light Breaks (Ljóbrot, 2024), followed by the short film O (2024), both directed by Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson. In When the Light Breaks, a young woman loses her boyfriend in a terrible accident but must bear the grief alone, in a captivating and beautiful film set over the course of 24 hours. The 2024 short O is a poetic and powerful portrait of a man’s battle with his own demons during his daughter’s wedding.

MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER + SHORTS | WEST NORDIC FILM DAYS
2025-03-15 14:00 - 16:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on March 14 & 15 for the festival West Nordic Film Days, a celebration of cinema from Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands! Presented in partnership with Nordic National Museum in Seattle, in-person screenings will take place at Scandinavia House in New York and Majestic Bay Theatres in Seattle on Friday and Saturday. Curated by Birgir Thor Møller, the selection of films at West Nordic Film Days reflect the current development and tendencies in West Nordic cinema as well as the diversity, combining films by prolific, prizewinning directors and upcoming filmmakers, who all live in and tell their stories from very different parts of the region.
The 2 PM afternoon session on Saturday, March 15 will include My Father’s Daughter (Biru Unjárga, dir. Egil Pedersen, 2024) followed by the Faroese shorts Lið við lið (The Last straw, dir. Andrias Høgenn, 2023) and Einmin (dir. Rammatik [aka Rannvá Káradóttir & Marianna Mørkøre], 2024).
In My Father’s Daughter, self-confident teenager Elvira (Sarah Olaussen Eir) is convinced that her mother conceived her at a Danish fertility clinic — and when she daydreams about her father, she imagines him as the charismatic movie star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (who plays himself). But her world is turned upside down when her real biological father unexpectedly enters her life, in a film exploring teenage identity issues with empathy and warm irony. In Lið við lið, Ivor is stranded on a Faroese mountain road, and the only person he can ask for help is his estranged brother; a tightknit drama with low-key ironic humor. And Einmin, filmed in one continues take, evolves around a solitary dancer as she navigates a deserted space.

SOLITUDE + SHORTS | WEST NORDIC FILM DAYS
2025-03-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on March 14 & 15 for the festival West Nordic Film Days, a celebration of cinema from Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands! Presented in partnership with Nordic National Museum in Seattle, in-person screenings will take place at Scandinavia House in New York and Majestic Bay Theatres in Seattle on Friday and Saturday. Curated by Birgir Thor Møller, the selection of films at West Nordic Film Days reflects the current development and tendencies in West Nordic cinema as well as the diversity, combining films by prolific, prizewinning directors and upcoming filmmakers, who all live in and tell their stories from very different parts of the region.
Opening Night on Friday, March 14 will include screenings of the Icelandic feature film Solitude (Tilverur, dir. Ninna Rún Pálmadóttir, 2022), followed by the Faroese short film Omman (Grandmother, 2019, dir. Julia í Kálvalí) and and the Greenlandic short film Entropy (dir. Inuk Jørgensen, 2024).
In Solitude a farmer is forced to relocate from the countryside to the capital, where he develops a transformative friendship with a 10-year-old paper boy, in a poetic film celebrating the comfort and care of unexpected connections. In Omman, two brothers head up to the mountains to find their alcoholic grandmother; ahead of them lies a disturbing journey home. And in the scenic short film Entropy, the vast Greenlandic film cap becomes a symbol of the director’s people, who have always lived in close and sacred connection with the nature around them.

PEOPLE OF STEEL | SCREENING & FILM TALK
2025-03-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us for the U.S. Premiere of People of Steel, a new documentary showcasing the heroic defense of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, with a film talk by director Serhiy Fomenko.
The war in the Ukraine began in 2014 after the victory of the Ukrainians in the Revolution of Dignity. After the subsequent annexation of Crimea and the occupation of parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Russia started a long and brutal war against the sovereign state, framed as “civil conflict” under Russian propaganda. In February 2022, Putin made an announcement on a special operation on denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, which was followed by large-scale missile attacks by the Russian federation: on targets of civilian infrastructure, airborne landings, infantry, artillery and tanks, and sabotage groups. The attack on the capital of Ukraine, the city of Kyiv, caused great human casualties — as did attacks on Irpin, Bucha, Kherson, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv, and others.
In the true story of Ukrainian People of Steel, Mariupol — an industrial strategic port city in the southeast of Ukraine—became the site of one of the bloodiest and most brutal battles of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Defending the city was the Mariupol garrison, which consisted of the special unit of “Azov,” including soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine, marine brigades, board guards, police officers, volunteers from the Territorial Defense and paramedics. Through interviews with these regiment members and footage of the battles, filmmaker Serhiy Fomenko tells their story.
Limited seats are available; RSVP to guarantee attendance.
This program is co-presented with the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations, the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations, and the “Watch Ukrainian!” Association.

GIANTS IN THE EARTH REDISCOVERED
2025-03-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Published 100 years ago, Ole Rolvaag’s novel Giants in the Earth was the quintessential American immigrant story. Douglas Moore’s operatic setting won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1951 but has remained largely unknown and never recorded.
On March 11, join us for a program that surveys the rediscovery of this important American opera, including excerpts from the opera sung by the two protagonists. The presentation is led by South Dakota Symphony Orchestra music director Delta David Gier, veteran stage directors Jay Lesenger and Bob Neu.
Performers
Meredith Lustig, soprano
Michael Kelly, baritone
Jeremy Chan, piano
Delta David Gier, speaker
Jay Lesenger, speaker
Bob Neu, speaker

ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME | NORDIC BOOK CLUB ONLINE
2025-03-11 18:00 - 19:00 | NY
Read and discuss literature with our Nordic Book Club Online! On March 11, we’ll be discussing the first volume of Solvej Balle’s speculative fiction septology On the Calculation of Volume, winner of the 2022 Nordic Council Literature Prize and now out in translation by Barbara J. Haveland.
Tara Selter, the heroine of On the Calculation of Volume, has involuntarily stepped off the train of time: in her world, November 18th repeats itself endlessly. We meet Tara on her 122nd November 18th: she no longer experiences the changes of days, weeks, months, or seasons. She finds herself in a lonely new reality without being able to explain why: how is it that she wakes every morning into the same day, knowing to the exact second when the blackbird will burst into song and when the rain will begin? Will she ever be able to share her new life with her beloved and now chronically befuddled husband? And on top of her profound isolation and confusion, Tara takes in with pain how slight a difference she makes in the world. (As she puts it: “That’s how little the activities of one person matter on the 18th of November.”)
Balle is hypnotic and masterful in her remixing of the endless recursive day, creating curious little folds of time and foreshadowings: her memories of the past light up inside the text like old-fashioned flash bulbs.
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DOROGU
2025-03-09 14:30 - 16:30 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On Sunday, March 9 join us for a screening of the Dorogu trilogy (dir. Jyrki Haapala, Finland, 2024), the first ever Karelian-language film in cinematic history! Karelia, a region of northeastern Europe on the border between Finland and Russia, is a site of incredible geopolitical tension in the era of Russia’s war of aggression. A film talk featuring lead actors Anna Hakkarainen and Minna Karttunen will follow the screening.
Dorogu—On the Mystical Paths of Karelia film trilogy comprises of three Karelian-language short films Veneh, Lindu and Ilmu. The name of the trilogy, Dorogu, means “road,” and these films take the viewer on a journey of transition. Dorogu depicts the sacred and important rites of passage which hold high significance in the Karelian culture and traditions. The trilogy also documents and exhibits the ancient tradition of reciting lamentations and spells, which were of great importance when any transitional rituals took place. Nature plays a central role in the films, almost hypnotically taking viewers on a journey to a mythical landscape.
Veneh depicts the Karelian lament wedding tradition, held at the bride’s home. Viewers follow her last day at her family home, before the groom collects her to bring her away to his family. Lindu concerns Karelian mythology and ritualism related to death. The film follows the journey of a dead man’s soul to his home, as he is guided by a soul bird. Ilmu explores birth and related Karelian mythology and ritualism.

NYICFF | SHORT FILMS 3
2025-03-08 15:00 - 16:30 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Explore the world without leaving New York! The New York International Children’s Film Festival takes place February 28–March 16 throughout New York City in 2025, with six screenings at Scandinavia House.
SHORT FILMS THREE features selections for our older crowd: teens and grown-ups only. Shorts include the Japanese animation A Night at the Rest Area (Saki Muramoto, 2024, 12 min. In Japanese with English subtitles), and others; see the full lineup for this program here.
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NYICFF | SHORT FILMS 1
2025-03-08 13:15 - 15:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Explore the world without leaving New York! The New York International Children’s Film Festival takes place February 28–March 16 throughout New York City in 2025, with six screenings at Scandinavia House.
The program SHORT FILMS ONE features selections for our littlest crowd—moviegoers ages five to ten. Whether you’re a baby chick who’s flown the coop, a budding Lego master, or just out for a movie, there’s lots to get into. Shorts include the Portuguese animation The Girl with the Occupied Eyes (André Carrilho, 2024, 8 min. No dialogue), and others; see the full lineup for this program here.
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NYICFF | MOOMINVALLEY
2025-03-08 11:30 - 13:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Explore the world without leaving New York! The New York International Children’s Film Festival takes place February 28–March 16 throughout New York City in 2025, with six screenings at Scandinavia House. For complete lineup and tickets visit nyicff.org/tickets.
Fill out a ballot at every screening, and your votes will determine the Festival award winners.
In Moominvalley, our Moominfriends return for more all-new adventures just in time to celebrate their 80th anniversary (and they don’t look a day over… however old they’re supposed to be!). In Moominpappa and Aunt Jane, Moominpappa mustn’t let a surprise visit from his formidable Aunt spoil his book launch party. Then, Little My and Snorkmaiden head to the Lonely Mountains to confront a solitary bogeywoman in Song of the Groke. Finally, an SOS from an old friend sends Moominpappa and Moomintroll on a rescue mission into the frozen wilderness in Moominpappa the Great Explorer. (66 min. Ages 5+ | Dir. Nigel Davies | Finland & United Kingdom, 2024. In English)
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DAHOMEY
2025-03-07 18:30 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
See the two of the shortlisted finalists for this year’s LUX Audience Awards this season at Scandinavia House! On March 7 we’ll be screening Dahomey, Mati Diop’s riveting documentary about the 2021 repatriation of royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey to the present-day Republic of Benin.
In November 2021, 26 royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey are about to leave Paris to return to their country of origin, the present-day Republic of Benin. Along with thousands of others, these artefacts were plundered by French colonial troops in 1892. But what attitude should the Beninese adopt to their homecoming, in a country that had to forge ahead in their absence? The debate rages among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi.
“Open-ended, fecund with imagination and ideas, never hectoring or lecturing, not so much posing questions as asking what questions might be posed: Mati Diop’s film is a marvelous provocation” (Deadline).
This event has been organized by the European Parliament in partnership with Scandinavia House.

LIVE JAZZ WITH CECIL AND ARI ALEXANDER
2025-03-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Join us on March 6 for a live jazz performance with Cecil and Ari Alexander! The artists will present a captivating selection of original compositions, timeless classics, and Danish folk songs from their album Duos and the upcoming Duos 2. These works are uniquely arranged for voice, piano, and various configurations of guitars and music production.
Ari Alexander, a Danish-American artist, holds a deep connection to both jazz and singer-songwriter traditions. Her passion for jazz was ignited by her vibrant musical heritage, which includes her grandmother and great-aunt, jazz vocalist Teddi King, while her connection to the northern Danish coastline and nature nurtured her sense of adventure and descriptive storytelling. Ari has performed at renowned venues such as the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and intimate jazz clubs worldwide. She has also had the honor of performing for members of the Danish royal family.
Cecil, an award-winning jazz guitarist, was a finalist in the prestigious Herbie Hancock Competition in 2019. Recently signed to Heartcore Records, a Berlin-based label founded by legendary guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, Cecil’s playing has garnered high praise. Rosenwinkel describes Cecil’s artistry as ““…Ideas and chops and sensitivity. Everything we want to hear and everything we want to play. I was an instant fan!” Most recently, Cecil has joined the touring band of Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott) where he has had the privilege to tour three different continents and connect with musicians and traditions across a diverse array of cultures.

THE DAY ICELAND STOOD STILL
2025-03-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Celebrate International Women’s Day with a March 5 screening of The Day Iceland Stood Still, with a film talk by director Pamela Hogan!
When 90 percent of the women of Iceland walked off the job and out of their homes one fall morning in 1975 refusing to work, cook, or take care of the children, they brought their country to a standstill and catapulted Iceland to the “best place in the world to be a woman.” Told for the first time by the women themselves, and laced with playful animation, The Day Iceland Stood Still is subversive and unexpectedly funny. “We loved our male chauvinist pigs,” recalls one of the activists, “We just wanted to change them a little!”
Filmed in a collaboration between U.S. director Hogan, who campaigned as a high school student in the 1970s with her activist mother to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and Icelandic producer Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, who at the age of seven accompanied her mother to the 1975 strike, the film features appearances by celebrities such as former Icelandic president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the world’s first democratically elected female head of state, as well as music by Björk. Released in the lead-up to the strike’s 50th anniversary in 2025, the film’s message about the collective power of women to transform their society inspires viewers to reimagine the impossible.
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GALLERY TOUR | NORDIC UTOPIA?
2025-03-05 17:30 - 18:05 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On view from November 26, 2024 to March 9, 2025 at Scandinavia House, Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century looks at the significance of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden as destinations for African American cultural figures including Ronald Burns, Doug Crutchfield, Herb Gentry, Dexter Gordon, William Henry Johnson, Howard Smith and Walter Williams through a range of artifacts, artworks (music, paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, textiles), and documentary evidence (photography, film, and journalistic writing). In this guided tour by Emily Stoddart, ASF’s Manager of Exhibitions & Community Programs, learn about the artists in this exhibition and their works.
These free, 35-minute public tours meet in the Gallery elevator lobby. Gallery tours are subject to change; please check with the Scandinavia House front desk or email info@amscan.org.
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LOST DANISH TREASURE
2025-03-04 18:30 - 20:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On March 4, join us for a book talk with award-winning Chicago architect Carl J. D’Silva on his new book Lost Danish Treasure, exploring Danish modernist Finn Juhl’s iconic Chieftan Chair and the mystery behind a long-lost design artifact, out now from Oro Editions!
Growing up, almost every kid dreams of finding buried treasure. That dream slowly fades with age as they realize that Blackbeard never visited their backyard. For some, the search for treasure continues in their adult lives in other ways. Metal detectors and shovels may be replaced with online searches and library visits, but the thrill of the hunt is still alive, ever driving the quest forward.
Lost Danish Treasure tells the tale of two stories: 1) the history of Finn Juhl’s iconic Chieftain Chair and a long-forgotten painting that preceded it, and 2) the individual connections to this design by a small group of collector researchers. Although starting in different eras and timelines, the two accounts start to intertwine over the course of the book, with the research efforts of today helping to unravel the mysteries of the past. As each chapter unfolds, more and more clues are revealed that slowly weave the storylines closer together — until the summer of 2021, when both accounts collided after Lot 242 popped up in an auction house in Chicago. The result of the subsequent analysis sheds new light about the origins and identity of the very first Chieftain Chair.
This program is co-presented with the Consulate General of Denmark in New York, the AIA and the Center for Architecture.
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THE SOUTHERN CHRONICLES
2025-03-03 18:30 - 21:00 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On March 3, New York Baltic Film Festival at Scandinavia House presents a screening and director talk on the hit new Lithuanian coming-of-age film, The Southern Chronicles! Director Ignas Miškinis will be present for a film talk and Q&A about the film exploring a young man’s struggle with love and the future amid a newly independent 1990s Lithuania.
In a working-class neighborhood of the Lithuanian city of Siauliai, a few years after the restoration of the country’s independence, brawny 17-year-old Rimants (Džiugas Grinys) is on the cusp of adulthood. More interested in playing rugby, listening to bands and dealing on the black market with his friend Minde than studying at school — much to the disapproval of his parents — Rimants is certain that physical strength and money are the essentials for success in a changing, competitive society. But when he meets and falls in love with the beautiful, middle-class Monika, Rimants is introduced to a new world of literature, culture and alternative possibilities which he explores with guarded enthusiasm. However, frustrated by the difficult, fickle nature of young love and the ever-present obstacles of class, Rimants eventually casts aside the expectations of others and begins to contemplate a future on his own terms.
Based on the semi-autobiographical book by Rimantas Kmiti, The Southern Chronicles (Pietinia kronikas) was awarded Best Baltic Film at Tallinn Black Nights and is a portrait of a ’90s generation with a lot of humor, music and the special slang of Šiauliai.
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NYICFF | WINNERS
2025-03-01 15:30 - 17:30 | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
Explore the world without leaving New York! The New York International Children’s Film Festival takes place February 28–March 16 throughout New York City in 2025, with six screenings at Scandinavia House. For complete lineup and tickets visit nyicff.org/tickets.
Fill out a ballot at every screening, and your votes will determine the Festival award winners.
In Winners, Mona is struggling to find her footing after arriving with her Kurdish family in Berlin. Her hair is wrong, her accent’s wrong, and she misses home. Home is Syria, or at least it was before she was forced to flee. They’re safe now, but busy Berlin offers a different kind of chaos. Kids challenge teachers, mean girls pick fights, and Mona barely knows any German. What she does know is soccer, even if she vowed never to play after leaving her Syrian team and her cherished aunt Helin. Things don’t get any better when her new teacher and coach convinces her to join the team. Mona and her mates know that teamwork doesn’t come easy, but there’s only one way to win. (119 min. Ages 10+ | Dir. Soleen Yusef | Germany, 2024 In German with English subtitles.)
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