2023 Scandinavian Film Festival has the long awaited Australian Première of LET THE RIVER FLOW (Ellos Eatnu – La Elva Leve). Chosen as the SYDNEY Opening Night Movie of the 2023 Scandinavian Film Festival, from 7pm on Tuesday 18th July 2023. Based on true events, starting Summer 1979 until 1981, that inspired a generation of young Norwegians to protect their environment. Starring the magnetic newcomer actress, Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, as the female protagonist (infants school teacher), who in real life is a proud Sámi woman, she is reliving a true story about her Sámi people and their Sápmi land.
The teacher (Ester) in order to prevent constant Norwegian racism, and despite her perceived life-long shame of being born a Sámi woman, she has learnt the need to permanently hide her Sámi identity, from all the Norwegians living in her town.
Writer/Director Ole Giæver’s multi award-winning drama, follows this young Sami woman, who is unintentionally drawn into a protest against an unwanted dam, that would flood Arctic Indigenous Sámi land. WINNER Audience Award at the 2023 Göteborg Film Festival.
Sámi’s magnificent culture, language, traditional clothing, handicraft and music, are quite distinctively different from other ethnic groups in Scandinavia. LAPLAND region is Arctic Indigenous Sámi land, and they have their own language, and their preferred name for LAPLAND is Sápmi. Summer 1979, the use of the Sámi language, is frowned upon by the Norwegians, and racial profiling/discrimination never ever stops. LAPLAND is a large region that makes up about one third of Finland’s total area, and the LAPLAND region covers northern Sweden, Finland, Norway (which is ¼ of all Scandinavia) and also part of Russia’s Kola Peninsula.
Carefully crafted message drama, starting from Summer 1979, that fully explores the permanently failed relationship between the Norwegians and the Norwegian Parliament, versus the Arctic Indigenous Sámi people. The prejudice/ profiling/ discrimination includes requiring that the only spoken language is Norwegian. The government requires that all Norwegian schools, can only teach by using the Norwegian Language. Highly Recommended.
LET THE RIVER FLOW (Ellos Eatnu – La Elva Leve) is the critically acclaimed box office hit drama, from director Ole Giæver, and is screening during the 2023 Scandinavian Film Festival at Palace Cinemas.
AUSTRALIAN PREMIÈRE at 2023 Scandinavian Film Festival, and presented from July 2023 at Palace Cinemas.
LET THE RIVER FLOW (Ellos Eatnu – La Elva Leve)
DIRECTED BY – Ole Giæver
NORWAY 2023 | DRAMA | 118 minutes | NORWAY, FINLAND, Sápmi.
STARRING – Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen, Gard Emil, Sofia Jannok, Beaska Niillas, Marie Kvernmo
LANGUAGES – Norwegian, Saami (Sámi) AND with English subtitles.
SYDNEY-CINEMAS – Palace Norton, Palace Central, Chauvel Cinema, from 18th July 2023 until 9th August 2023.
WINNER FIPRESCI Prize, Audience Award, Göteborg Film Festival 2023
WINNER Audience Award, Tromsø International Film Festival 2023
NOMINEE Best Feature Film, Seattle International Film Festival 2023
AUSTRALIAN CLASSIFICATION – CTC but probably rated M (Mature Themes – DRAMA).
RUNNING TIME of 118 minutes.
FAQ – https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/films/let-the-river-flow
FESTIVAL – https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/welcome
SYDNEY-TICKETS – https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/sessions/sydney
SYDNEY-VENUES – https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/venues/sydney
FILMS – https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/films
DIGITAL-PROGRAMME – https://scandinavianfilmfestival.com/download-programme
VIDEO – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIiFsEQ_WvQ&
MUBI – https://mubi.com/films/let-the-river-flow
2023 SAXO SCANDINAVIAN FILM FESTIVAL PROGRAMME REVEALED – Presented by Palace, and the huge showcase this year is offering a specially curated movie film programme of the best brand-new cinema from the Nordic region, and cult classics. Cinema movie films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, will be screening around Australia, from July 2023 until August 2023, at Palace Cinemas, Luna Palace Cinemas and Palace Nova Cinemas. The festival is also delighted to welcome on board, the naming rights partner Saxo Markets, Danish trading and investment specialists.
Opening Night of the Festival, offers the superb drama based on true events, with the Australian Première of writer/director Ole Giæver’s LET THE RIVER FLOW (Ellos Eatnu – La Elva Leve), starring proud Sámi, Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, and is fresh from being crowned the Audience Award at the 2023 Göteborg Film Festival.
Festival Centrepiece GODLAND (Volaða land) is the award winning Icelandic writer/director Hlynur Pálmason’s follow-up to his breakout hit “A White, White Day” and has been met with widespread critical acclaim. Late 1800s historical drama follows a Danish priest who embarks on a pilgrimage, across the mostly unexplored Iceland.
Finland’s famed auteur Aki Kaurismäki has the new tragicomedy FALLEN LEAVES (Kuolleet lehdet) arriving direct from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it garnered rave reviews. Starring Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen, in search of the love of their lives, it is the tale of two lonely strangers who meet by chance one Helsinki night.
Treats are in store for lovers of Scandi neo-Noir, thrillers and psychological dramas. From Denmark the highly anticipated sequel to box office smash Darkland, DARKLAND: THE RETURN (Underverden II) from critically acclaimed director Fenar Ahmad starring Dar Salim as an anti-hero re-entering the Copenhagen underworld undercover; SUPERPOSITION, a slick dramatic thriller with a supernatural twist in which a couple, on a tree change from Copenhagen to the Swedish forest, hope to find themselves and reignite their relationship and COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST (København findes ikke), a complex psychological drama about the power of memories, in which a young man agrees to be locked in an apartment and interrogated by his missing girlfriends’ father. From Sweden comes SHADOW ISLAND, a pulse-pounding thriller featuring a cast of exciting new talent. An aspiring meteorologist sets off to a deserted island in the Barents Sea in search of the truth about his father’s passing, resulting in an intense maelstrom of paranoia and mystery.
Crowned best Nordic film at the 2023 Göteborg Film Festival, UNRULY (Ustyrlig) is an unsettling drama inspired by 1930s brutal real-life events, within the notorious women’s institution on the Danish Island of Sprogø, that taught compliance to “morally deficient” girls.
THE KING (Kungen) is a thought-provoking and poetic documentary film about Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, who became the world’s youngest kind. Two years in the making, director Karin af Klintberg has made a modern film about a not very modern occupation.
Gripping dramatisation of Edvard Munch’s life, providing an intimate insight into a distinctive and unique artistic mind, with this quite sumptuous biopic MUNCH depicts four defining periods in the Norwegian artist’s life.
Comedy is well represented in this year’s festival line up with a selection of popular, box office hits. Iceland’s smash WILD GAME (Villibráð) features an all-star Icelandic cast including Aníta Briem, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Hilmar Guðjónsson in this wildly entertaining comedy of manners, where seven friends at a dinner party decide to play a dangerous game. The newest instalment in the highly popular Grump films from Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki is THE GRUMP: IN SEARCH OF AN ESCORT (Mielensäpahoittaja Eskorttia etsimässä). In this feel-good story about reconciliation and forgiveness, an ageing widower travels to Germany to buy a 1972 Ford Escort but ends up settling accounts with his past.
From Denmark comes ensemble comedy FATHERS & MOTHERS (Fædre & mødre) about the challenges of parenting school-aged children and a couple who must navigate hierarchy, rivalry and hidden agendas at their daughter’s new school; THE LAND OF SHORT SENTENCES (Meter i sekundet), a warm-hearted modern comedy about belonging and community from Danish comedy queen Hella Joof and period piece EMPIRE (Viften), which combines earnest drama and absurd comedy to explore power dynamics and interdependence as it follows a mistress and her housekeeper with vastly different living situations in the Danish West Indies in 1848.
Finnish comedy includes the warm-hearted drama BUBBLE (Kupla) which follows the story of 16-year-old small town girl whose world collapses when she finds out her mother is having an affair; and modern love story FOUR LITTLE ADULTS (Neljä pientä aikuista) about a middle-aged couple on the verge of a breakup who decide to open their relationship and enter the complex world of polyamory.
Revolving around desire, elegant psychological thriller LOVE PROOF (Kärleksbevis) has unexpected twists and turns. as it focuses on a divorcing couple who meet for a final weekend to empty and sell their summer house. Also from Sweden is the offbeat drama of dysfunctional domestic dynamics, ONE DAY ALL THIS WILL BE YOURS (En dag kommer allt det här bli ditt). A cartoonist and her siblings gather at the family farm in northern Sweden to discover how the land that has been in their family for generations is to be divided between them.
Fiery love affair leads to unexpected consequences in BURN ALL MY LETTERS (Bränn alla mina brev) from internationally acclaimed director Björn Runge and starring Bill Skarsgård and Asta Kamma August; NORWEGIAN DREAM, an observant coming-of-age drama set in a fish factory on the coast of Norway about the search for identity and the difficulty in loving others when you cannot accept yourself and the poignant CAMINO, from internationally acclaimed director Birgitte Stærmose, about a father and daughter who set out on the Camino de Santiago walking trail in Spain and explore family baggage and bonds.
Finally, we are thrilled to present a deep dive into the dark side of Scandinavian Cinema with SCANDI SCREAMS, a selection of six films that examine the mysterious folklore traditions and mythology that have influenced and inspired filmmakers to shape an evolving genre over the last fifteen years.
Heading the lineup of cult classics is the Closing Night selection LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Låt den rätte komma in), celebrating its 15th anniversary. When Oskar, a shy 12-year-old boy meets the mysterious and moody Eli, their bond forever changes their lives in this influential tale of love that gets the blood pumping.In the Academy Award nominated BORDER (Gräns), Tina, a customs officer, becomes attracted to a mysterious man who challenges her unusual abilities. The unique narrative pushes the boundaries of traditional storytelling, exploring universal themes of identity and acceptance.
Not to be missed is the director’s cut of Ari Aster’s MIDSOMMAR, featuring a breakout performance from Florence Pugh. A group of friends travel to a remote Swedish village to participate in a seemingly innocent midsummer festival that gradually turns into a disturbing and nightmarish experience. The subversive Viking epic VALHALLA RISING stars Mads Mikkelsen as One Eye, a pagan warrior who escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land; RARE EXPORTS, is an inventive dark fantasy which follows the young Pietari who thinks a secret mountain drilling project has uncovered the tomb of Santa Claus and TROLL HUNTER (Trolljegeren), an adventurous fusion of folklore and fantasy, revolves around a secretive government employed troll hunter who is responsible for maintaining the troll population and protecting the public.
The 2023 Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival will take place from 13 July 2023 until 9 August 2023.