Beginning on February 12, New Nordic Cinema at Scandinavia House returns in a virtual format! Celebrate contemporary Nordic filmmaking with us from home by catching some of the best new films in sessions of features and documentaries. Sessions will take place over seven days (Friday — Thursday) with all films available for viewing on a virtual cinema screening platform throughout this period, and ticket sales are open to viewers throughout the U.S.

The series kicks off on February 12-18 with The Deposit /Tryggð (Iceland, 2019; dir. Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir) and Gods of Molenbeek /Aatos ja amine (Finland, 2019; dir. Reetta Huhtanen). Based on the bestselling novel of Auður Jónsdóttir, The Deposit follows struggling Icelandic journalist Gisella’s decision to invite two immigrant women to live in her home, after finding them squatting in a nearby housing estate while on assignment. But what begins as a mutually beneficial arrangement develops tensions, particularly after Gisella inserts herself too much in their lives; kicking off a dangerous power struggle. In the child’s-eye documentary Gods of Molenbeek /Aatos ja amine, filmmaker Reetta Huhtanen follows six-year old Aatons and Amine, residents of the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district of Brussels, most widely known as a likely jihadi capital. To Aatons and Amine, it is the place where they listen to spiders and build flying carpets while pondering bigger existential questions about religion and higher power, stripping spirituality down to its basic principles and question knowledge itself. Click here to read more about Session 1 and purchase tickets.

The series will continue from February 19-25 with Phoenix /Føniks (Norway, 2018; dir. Camilla Strøm Henriksen) and Transnistra (Sweden, 2019; dir. Anna Eborn). In Phoenix, 14-year-old Jill has been a primary caretaker for her younger brother and her troubled mother, a once-celebrated artist. When her estranged father announces a surprise visit for her 14th birthday, a spark of hope for stability grows tenuous when his motives prove more selfish; in a film blending elements of fantasy and fairy tale with family melodrama.

Atmospherically shot on 16mm film, Transnistra is an intimate and vital account of love and friendship in the breakaway state of Transnistria, where three close friends navigate young love amid Russian pop music and the teachings of Fidel Castro, and must also learn to define themselves within a society that offers little opportunities. Click here to read more about Session 2 and purchase tickets. 

Films scheduled for February 26 – March 4 are Maria’s Paradise /Marian paratiisi (Finland, 2019; dir. Zaida Bergroth) and The Reformist — A Female Imam /Reformisten (Denmark, 2019; dir. Marie Skovgard). Acclaimed as an “unsettling, nuanced, fact-based drama” (The Hollywood Reporter), Maria’s Paradise looks at young orphan Salome, one of many devoted followers of the charismatic seer Maria Åkerblom, who live together in a rural commune sheltered from outside life in 1920s Finland. But when Salome develops a friendship with an irreverent outsider, she begins to question the authenticity of her leader’s teachings. A documentary by director Marie Skovgard, The Reformist — A Female Imam follows Danish activist and progressive Muslim leader Sherin Khankan over the course of three years as she works to establish Europe’s first mosque led by female imams, aiming to empower women in the community while also encouraging alternate religious interpretations. Click here to read more about Session 3 and purchase tickets. 

Festival films will be available to ticket holders all over the U.S. Each session is limited to 250 tickets in an effort to preserve the intimate and communal experience. The sessions will take place over seven days (Friday — Thursday), with all films available for viewing on a virtual cinema screening platform throughout this period. To download viewing instructions and an FAQ, please click here.