Scandinavian Film Offering for TIFF 2015

TIFF 2015 is truly an exciting time in Toronto! Celebrities abound, the cool, crisp air signals Fall and there is an excellent selection of Scandinavian films that will stimulate you intellectually as well as emotionally.

I truly love watching films from different countries. It gives you a sneak peek into the cultures around the world. Sometimes the only way to explain a way of life is through experiencing it, and movies are the easiest way to virtually attain that experience.

This year’s TIFF 2015 Scandinavian selection is pretty expansive, and I’m thrilled that there is a good variety of things to watch. Here are the Nordic films of TIFF 2015, assembled in one post!

7 Sheep
Directed by Wiktoria Szymanska
Poland/​​United Kingdom/​​Denmark/​​Mexico | 21 minutes | World Premiere

A lonely little girl tries to create a new world for herself and an equally lonely man. In a visually stunning dreamscape, she finds that freedom and home are synonymous — and that they come at a steep cost.

Horizon
Sjón­deil­darhringur
Directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Bergur Bernburg
Iceland/​​Denmark | 80 minutes | World Premiere

Oscar-nominated director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson and co-director Bergur Bernburg helm this lovely documentary portrait of influential Icelandic landscape painter Georg Gudni.

Land of Mine
Under Sandet / Unter dem Sand
Directed by Martin Zandvliet
Denmark/​​Germany | 100 minutes | World Premiere

In this based-on-fact war drama, a group of German POWs are put to work by the Allies defusing their own landmines on the west coast of Denmark in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

Louder than Bombs
Directed by Joachim Trier
Norway/​​France/​​Denmark | 109 minutes | North American Premiere

An aging schoolteacher (Gabriel Byrne) grappling with the recent death of his photojournalist wife (Isabelle Huppert) attempts to reconcile with his two very different sons (Jesse Eisenberg and Devin Druid), in the first English-language feature by acclaimed Norwegian director Joachim Trier (Reprise).

Men & Chicken
Mænd og Høns
Directed by Anders Thomas Jensen
Denmark | 104 minutes | North American Premiere

Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) stars in this delirious comedy from Denmark’s Anders Thomas Jensen (The Green Butchers), about two sadsack brothers who head to a dilapidated mansion on a remote island to meet their biological father — and their three seriously eccentric siblings.

Sparrows
Directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson
Iceland/​​Denmark/​​Croatia | 99 minutes | World Premiere

In the new film from Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson (Volcano), a teenage boy is forced to leave his happy life in Reykjavik and move back in with his dissolute father in a sparsely populated rural town — where a shocking event forces him to choose between telling the truth and protecting those he loves.

Return of the Atom
Atomin paluu
Directed by Mika Taanila, Jussi Eerola
Finland/​​Germany | 110 minutes | World Premiere

This incisive and often savagely funny documentary chronicles the black comedy of errors that transpired when a remote Finnish island was selected as the site of the first new nuclear power plant in the West following the Chernobyl disaster.

Rams
Hrútar
Directed by Grímur Hákonarson
Iceland | 93 minutes | Canadian Premiere

Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at this year’s Cannes festival, Grímur Hákonarson’s stunningly shot drama focuses on two Icelandic sheep farmers whose decades-long feud comes to a head when disaster strikes their flocks.

Trapped
Ófærð / Season 1: Episode 1
Created by Baltasar Kormákur
Iceland | 51 minutes | World Premiere

A murder investigation and an impending snowstorm places a small-town Icelandic police chief in a dangerously unstable situation with international implications, in this noir-ish thriller from director Baltasar Kormákur (101 Reykjavík, The Deep).

Bird Hearts
Directed by Halfdan Olav Ullmann Tøndel
Norway | 25 minutes | North American Premiere

Benjamin’s insecurities bubble to the surface when his girlfriend Maya recounts a past sexual escapade in Brazil — and a quarter-life crisis ensues. Bird Hearts cleverly dissects Nordic liberalism and the fragility of the male ego.

Homesick
De nærmeste
Directed by Anne Sewitsky
Norway | 102 minutes | Canadian Premiere

Bedevilled by shared demons, a young woman and her half-brother find comfort with each other, in this brooding, sharply detailed study of incest from Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky.

Oslo’s Rose
Oslos rose
Directed by The Sporadic Film Collective
Norway | 7 minutes | International Premiere

For more than two years, Nader has been head over heels in love with Janne but unable to let her know — an untenable situation for both his work and creativity. At last, one night at the bar, it appears Nader may be able to finally speak and free himself from the writer’s block that has plagued him.

The Wave
Directed by Roar Uthaug
Norway | 105 minutes | International Premiere

In this pulse-pounding thriller, a geologist tries to prevent a cataclysm when a mountain overlooking a popular Norwegian tourist destination begins to collapse into the ocean.

Beneath the Spaceship
Under Rymdskeppet
Directed by Caroline Ingvarsson
Sweden | 15 minutes | World Premiere

This deeply insightful drama traces the events of one sweltering Swedish summer, when the bond between an adolescent girl and her older neighbour frays as their relationship comes under the scrutiny of those who can’t understand what they share.

Girls Lost
Pojkarna
Directed by Alexandra-Therese Keining
Sweden | 106 minutes | World Premiere

Three outcast teenage girls get a new perspective on high-school life when they are mysteriously transformed into boys, in this skillfully crafted tale of sexual confusion with a supernatural twist.

Granny’s Dancing On The Table
Directed by Hanna Sköld
Sweden | 85 minutes | World Premiere

A young girl living under the heel of her tyrannical religious zealot father in the depths of the Swedish forests finds strength in the memory of her rebellious grandmother, in the searing new feature from director Hanna Sköld.

The Here After
Efterskalv
Directed by Magnus von Horn
Poland/​​Sweden/​​France | 102 minutes | North American Premiere

A gawky teenager faces fear, hostility and danger when he returns to his rural community after serving time for a tragic crime, in the chilling and memorable debut from Swedish director Magnus von Horn.

My Skinny Sister
Min lilla syster
Directed by Sanna Lenken
Sweden/​​Germany | 95 minutes | Canadian Premiere

The Paradise Suite
Directed by Joost van Ginkel
Netherlands/​​Sweden/​​Bulgaria | 118 minutes | World Premiere

This dexterous tale of survival from director Joost van Ginkel traces the intersecting stories of six immigrants from very different backgrounds in Amsterdam.