This year, the Nordic & Baltic Oscar Contenders series returns to Scandinavia House in a hybrid format! In coordination with Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. with BalticFilmExpo@SFFLA, Scandinavia House is pleased to offer virtual screenings of films chosen by the Nordic & Baltic countries to compete for the Oscar nomination for the Best International Feature Film, available to viewers across the U.S. on the weekends of January 6 & 13, as well as select in-house screenings. The virtual series will include a minimum of eight films in total, screened over weekends in January; check back here for more details on upcoming virtual screenings. Passholders will receive priority reservation for limited screenings taking place later this month.

During the weekend of January 6-9, the program comprises screenings of Issac /Izaokas (dir. Jurgis Matulevičius, Lithuania, 2019, Narrative), Lithuania’s official nomination for the 94th Academy Awards; Sweden’s official nomination  Tigers/Tigrar (dir. Ronnie Sandahl; Sweden/Italy/Denmark, 2020); and Latvia’s nomination The Pit /Bedre (dir. Dace Pūce; Latvia/Finland, 2020).

Festival films will be available to ticket holders all over the U.S. Each session is limited to 300 tickets in an effort to preserve the intimate and communal experience. The sessions will take place over four days (Thursday — Sunday), and all films from the session will be available for viewing on a virtual cinema screening platform throughout this period.

To download viewing instructions and an FAQ, please click here.

To see upcoming in-house screenings in the series, please click here.

Issac /Izaokas (dir. Jurgis Matulevičius, Lithuania, 2019, Narrative)

In 1941, Andrius kills his Jewish neighbor, Isaac, during the Lietukis garage massacre. Twenty-five years later, film director Gediminas returns to Soviet Lithuania from the U.S. with a screenplay that portrays the same massacre in detail and gradually attracts the interest of the KGB. Why would someone return from the U.S.? Why is the screenplay so accurate? Isaac shows how the aftermath of the murder ripples through the decades, affecting lives and love long after the war has ended. Director Jurgis Matulevičius captures the fine balance between memory and history, and between guilt and compliance, against the background of 1960s Lithuania. “A visually dazzling, Kafkaesque murder mystery” –Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter
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Tigers/Tigrar (dir. Ronnie Sandahl; Sweden/Italy/Denmark, 2020)

A life-or-death rollercoaster ride through the modern-day football industry, Tigers follows Martin, one of the most promising football talents Sweden has ever seen. At 16, his lifelong dream comes true when he is bought by one of Italy’s most prestigious clubs; yet that dream comes at a very high price in terms of sacrifice, dedication, pressure and — most of all — loneliness. Before long, Martin begins to question whether this is actually the life he yearned for. With a unique perspective on the world of professional sports, Ronnie Sandahl’s coming-of-age drama based on Martin Bengtsson’s autobiography In the Shadow of San Siro looks at a young man’s burning obsession in a world where everything, and everyone, has a price tag. “A compelling look at the dark side of sports glory”—THR
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The Pit /Bedre (dir. Dace Pūce; Latvia/Finland, 2020)

Ten-year-old Markus struggles to adapt to a new life with his grandmother in a small rural village, particularly after Emīlija, a neighbor’s daughter, makes unkind remarks about his father. In response, Markus decides to teach her a cruel lesson — but when his act is discovered, it has severe consequences which resonate throughout the village, deepening Markus’ hatred of the locals even further. The only person he can relate to is an older man living in the nearby woods, with whom he develops a mutual inspiration and trust to keep each others’ secrets. But only with an accidental turn of events, and a plot for revenge, will Markus’s reputation with the villagers change. (107 min. In Latvian with English subtitles)