Nordic films in the spotlight at Luxembourg festival

(CS) The Nordic Film Festival returns for its second edition this year, with five days of films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden at Ciné Utopia.

The festival opens on June 8 with Finnish film 21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage, which was the highest-grossing local film in Finland in 2013, when it was first released. The film tells the story of young sociologist Sanna who studies marriages and concludes that divorce is the natural consequence of falling in love. 

But can an unexpected encounter change her approach to relationships? 21 Ways to Ruin a Marriage has been shown at film festivals in Germany, Shanghai and Australia, and won the People's Choice Award at the Finnish Jussi Awards, the country's main film prize.

Also included in the line-up is Danish crime-thriller The Absent One, based on the best-selling novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen, starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Detective Carl Mørck, who picks up long-cold leads in a closed case about a brother and sister brutally murdered decades earlier. The film is the follow-up to The Keeper of Lost Causes and was the highest-grossing Danish film ever at the Danish box office.

On Wednesday, June 10, the festival presents Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson's quirky arthouse black comedy drama A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, winner of the Golden Lion at the 2014 Venice International Film Festival.

The film stars Holger Andersson and Nisse Vestblom as travelling salesmen Jonathan and Sam, who meet a kaleidoscope of characters on their journey, painting a picture of the eccentricities and complexities of being human.

The festival on June 11 presents a double bill of Iceland films. In comedy Spooks and Spirits, a young woman, Anna, and her boyfriend are haunted by the ghost of Anna's father after they try to sell his house. Director Ágúst Guðmundsson will join the event via Skype for a post-screening Q&A.

This is followed by sombre drama Life in a Fishbowl, which received rave reviews at a number of international festivals. Set just before Iceland's 2008 financial crisis, it chronicles the lives of three people – a writer, a prostitute and a banker – who all conceal secrets, troubled pasts and presents, but whose paths will cross on their road to redemption.

Finally, the festival will close on June 12 with black comedy In Order of Disappearance. Set in the wintery mountains of Norway, the film tells the story of Citizen of the Year Nils, whose proper and orderly life is thrown into tailspin when his son is murdered. On his quest for revenge, he ignites a blood feud between vegan gangster “The Count” and Serbian mafia boss “Papa”.

The film stars celebrated Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, who most recently appeared in the Avengers and Thor franchises, as Nils and Bruno Ganz, who portrayed Adolf Hitler in Downfall, as Papa.

All films will be screened at Ciné Utopia in their original language with English subtitles. Tickets are 8.80 euros (7.30 euros reduced) and are available at the box office or on utopolis.lu

For the full schedule visit nordicfilmfestival.lu

Throughout the festival, audiences will be able to vote on their favourite films with the chance to win two return flights to Stockholm, sponsored by Luxair. The winner will be drawn on June 11 and announced at the closing screening on June 12.

Finnish ambassador to Luxembourg Timo Ranta at a presentation of the festival on Friday said that the festival would give Luxembourg audiences a chance to discover Nordic films and filmmakers they might not otherwise have been able to see. Ranta commented that Nordic filmmakers are very honest about their “ways of presenting life” in their films, adding that the festival would also be a chance to learn more about the Nordic mindset.