YALLA PARKOUR | NORDIC & BALTIC OSCAR CONTENDERS
2025-12-01 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, United States
On December 1, Scandinavia House presents a special screening and film talk of a Swedish qualifier for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards: the tender, deeply affecting documentary Yalla Parkour, followed by a Q&A with director Areeb Zuaiter.
Yalla Parkour
Dir. Areeb Zuaiter | Sweden/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Palestine, 2024
When she was four, the filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter travelled to Gaza and saw the sea for the first time. That moment – the magic of the sea and the smile on her Palestinian mother’s face – had a lasting impact. When she sees a video of young men doing parkour on Gaza’s sandy shores, her nostalgia for this distant home resurfaces. The joy of the young athletes stands in stark contrast to the distant echoes of explosions. Longing to reconnect with her past, Areeb gets in touch with the parkour team and befriends Ahmed. Together, they navigate what is left of Gaza, exploring a cemetery, a run-down shopping center, and the remains of an airport.
As their relationship deepens, Ahmed reveals the harsh realities of life in Gaza, transforming Areeb’s initial curiosity into a profound awareness of the struggles he faces. Areeb grapples with feelings of guilt and conflict as she witnesses Ahmedʼs desire to escape the confines of his homeland, understanding the emotional void such a departure would entail. Framed as a narrated letter from Zuaiter to her mother, Yalla Parkour becomes not only a quest to reclaim memories but also an exploration of identity, belonging, and the haunting legacy of a home left behind.
“An interesting, subtle and poetic watch… a testament to the human spirit’s ability to continue and find light, even against all odds.” (Ola Salwa, Cineuropa)
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THE LOVE THAT REMAINS + O + ON WEARY WINGS GO BY | NORDIC & BALTIC OSCAR CONTENDERS
2025-12-02 18:30 - 21:00
On December 2, Scandinavia House presents a special screening featuring three eligible films for the 98th Academy Awards: the tender relationship drama The Love That Remains, Iceland’s official entry for Best International Feature Film, and the Oscar-eligible shorts O (Iceland) and On Weary Wings Go By (Estonia).
The Love That Remains
Dir. Hlynur Pálmason | Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France, 2025 | 109 min
In Icelandic with English subtitles
Charting the gradual evolution of a family in the midst of an irreparable fracture, The Love That Remains is a poignant, crisply pointillistic domestic drama that observes life’s changes with humor and whimsy, set against the majestic, ever-shifting Icelandic landscape. Visual artist Anna (Saga Garðarsdóttir) and fisherman Magnús (Sverrir Guðnason) were teenage sweethearts but have recently grown apart, and Magnús has moved out of the house. As long as the newly estranged parents put on a good face, the children—and their adorable sheepdog Panda (who won the prestigious Palme Dog award at Cannes)—seem to take the split in stride. Yet as Magnús becomes increasingly alienated from his domestic life, harsh reality can’t help but bubble to the surface.
Hlynur Pálmason’s follow-up to his austere 19th-century drama Godland is a “constantly surprising” film with an immaculate sense of framing and pacing—and an evocative, dulcet piano score by Harry Hunt—dotted with idiosyncratic flights of fancy that never detract from the central emotional authenticity.
O
Dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson | Iceland/Sweden, 2024 | 19 min
In Icelandic with English subtitles

A fragile soul’s inner turmoil unfolds as he grapples with personal demons while pursuing a seemingly mundane goal, unveiling the profound human struggle within life’s simplicity. Praised as “a deep, uncompromising leap into the abyss of humanity’s self-destructive nature,” O celebrates the battles we fight in the mundanity of everyday life.

On Weary Wings Go By (Linnud läinud)
Dir. Anu-Laura Tuttelberg, Estonia & Lithuania, 2024 | 11 min. | No dialogue
In this animated wintery poem of Nordic nature, the sun moves low, and days shorten. Birds fly south, and porcelain animals and insects hide from the freezing wind and snow. Only a small porcelain girl wanders the abandoned landscape, with no way to get out.
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SEEING SILENCE: HELENE SCHJERFBECK
2025-12-03 17:00 - 18:00
Join us for an evening with Dr. Anna Maria von Bonsdorff (Museum Director at the Ateneum Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery), Dita Amory (Curator in Charge, Robert Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art), and Patricia Berman (Feldberg Professor of Art, Wellesley College), as they discuss the work and life of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck.
Beloved in Nordic countries for her highly original style, Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946) is relatively unknown to the rest of the world. Overcoming immense personal struggles and working in a remote location for decades, she produced a powerful body of work through sheer force of will.
Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 5th, is the first exhibition to showcase the work of the artist in a major United States museum. Featuring nearly 60 works—including generous loans from the Finnish National Gallery / Ateneum Art Museum, other Finnish museums, and private collections in Finland and Sweden—Seeing Silence illuminates Schjerfbeck as a valuable voice of modernism. In this lecture and discussion, speakers will reflect on Schjerfbeck’s oeuvre, life, and social context, offering perspectives on this important artist.
Header Photo: Helene Schjerfbeck, Self-Portrait, 1912, oil on canvas, 43,5 × 42 cm. Finnish National Gallery Collection / Ateneum Art Museum. Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Yehia Eweis
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SNIPPED | NORDIC & BALTIC OSCAR CONTENDERS
2025-12-04 18:00 - 19:00
On December 4, Scandinavia House presents a special screening and film talk of a Danish qualifier for Best Live-Action Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards: the sharp comedy Snipped, followed by a Q&A with director Alexander Saul and producer Rebecca Pruzan.
Snipped
Dir. Alexander Saul | Denmark, 2025 | 16 min
In Danish with English subtitles
“A darkly hilarious masterstroke with Oscar-Worthy comic timing”– A Jewish convert. A Muslim doctor. One holy snip and a whole lot of tension.
Hailed as “an absurdly poignant contender in the Oscar short film race,” the short follows Adam (Louis Bodnia Andersen)’s experience as a Jewish convert undergoing a ritual circumcision at a Muslim clinic in Copenhagen. Snipped explores the universal experience of coexistence through humor and shared rituals, with director Alexander Saul’s personal story and a unifying Muslim-Jewish score softening heavy themes into moments of laughter and trust.
Snipped‘s narrative unfolds in a cramped Danish clinic where a simple religious ceremony turns into an existential standoff. What begins as a sacred rite of passage quickly unravels into a study in discomfort, not just physical, but cultural, spiritual, and profoundly human. With a talented team including Oscar-nominated producer Rebecca Pruzan and Oscar-winning producer Kim Magnusson, the film already made a splash at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival. Based on Saul’s own experience as a Jewish convert undergoing a ritual circumcision at a Muslim clinic, the film deftly navigates a minefield of cultural tension and bodily vulnerability, without ever losing its sense of humor.
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MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN + WINTER IN MARCH | NORDIC & BALTIC OSCAR CONTENDERS
2025-12-04 19:00 - 21:00
On December 4th, Scandinavia House presents a special double screening featuring two eligible films for the 98th Academy Awards: the poignant first-hand documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Denmark’s official entry for Best International Feature Film, and the Oscar-eligible animated short Winter in March (Estonia).
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Dir. Pavel Talankin & David Borenstein | Denmark & Czech Republic, 2025 | 90 min
In Russian with English subtitles
“A must-watch, indelible document of ideological warfare”—Pasha Talankin is an unlikely hero: a beloved Russian primary school teacher, known as a mentor and prankster who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha’s role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages and horrified by the militarization of his school and community, he wrestles with guilt and a sense of powerlessness, leading him to become an international whistleblower.
As the school’s videographer, Pasha documents intimate and revealing footage of Putin’s
regime, capturing the rise of militarized children’s groups, repressive laws, fervent
nationalism, and the recruitment of graduating students to fight in the war. When he learns
his own life may be at risk, Pasha is forced to plan a dangerous escape from Russia.
The winner of the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award at Sundance, this uniquely collaborative film is as captivating and joyful as it is eye-opening and sobering. Mr. Nobody Against Putin showcases rare footage that reveals the profound impact of Putin’s regime on the lives of everyday Russians, particularly its children.
Lumi saadab meid / Winter in March
Dir. Natalia Mirzoyan | Estonia/Armenia/France, 2024 | 16 min
In Estonian with English subtitles

Helpless in the face of a repressive state, a young couple leaves their home – an escape that turns into a surreal nightmare. Praised as “an authentic story of inner conflict that comes from facing your country falling into the moral abyss,” this tenderly animated production premiered at Cannes. Winter in March has since received critical acclaim, winning the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Short Film at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Snipped
Dir. Alexander Saul | Denmark, 2025 | 16 min
In Danish with English subtitles
A Jewish convert. A Muslim doctor. One holy snip and a whole lot of tension. Snipped explores the universal experience of coexistence through humor and shared rituals, with director Alexander Saul’s personal story and a unifying Muslim-Jewish score softening heavy themes into moments of laughter and trust.
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SOLD OUT — HOLIDAY FAMILY CRAFTS: A SILVER ANNIVERSARY WORKSHOP
2025-12-07 15:00 - 16:30
*This event is now sold out.*
Join us for a Silver Anniversary holiday crafts workshop on December 7! Children and their parents/caretakers can experience how Scandinavians prepare for the season with a holiday craft day. They’ll discover the secrets of making crafts like simple Scandinavian heart baskets, votive luminaries, and more, and enjoy a brief, candlelit, Saint Lucia procession.

This workshop is intended for children ages 1-8; reservations are strongly encouraged. All attendees must be ticketholders (both adults and children).

Photo by Tadeusz Zachwieja for Unsplash.com

SOLD OUT: HOLIDAY CONCERT
2025-12-07 17:00 - 18:00
*Please note that the December 7 concert is now sold out. There are limited seats remaining for the concert on December 14.*
This December, Scandinavia House presents a festive in-person concert featuring Scandinavian and American holiday favorites as well as a traditional Saint Lucia procession, replete with traditional gowns and glowing candles! Due to popular demand, this year will feature two performances on Sundays December 7 & 14.
Learn about the history of Lucia, one of the most popular holidays in Sweden, while enjoying music from members of the Swedish community in New York, led by Ingrid Kullberg-Bendz. Tickets to this event must be purchased in advance online.
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