Nine Swedish and Norwegian shorts and feature films are having their Danish premiere at the ‘Norsk/Svensk Filmdage’ unspooling June 10-13 at Copenhagen’s Grand Cinema. 

The second edition of the mini-Scandi film festival is curated by arthouse specialist Kim Foss, managing director of the historical Grand Cinema and the distribution company Camera Film.  “There is a surge in the Scandinavian film production,” he says. “The Swedish Golden Palm winner The Square and the Norwegian war drama The King’s Choice sold together more than 200,000 cinema tickets in Denmark, but our neighbours produce other films than blockbusters, and we have selected some of the very best in recent years.” 

The opening film on Sunday is the Norwegian film The Tree Feller by first time director Jorunn Muklebust Syversen, to be introduced by actor Anders Baasmo Christiansen, who also starred in The King’s Choice. Two other Norwegian debut films on the menu are The Rules for Everything by Kim Hiorthøy and Valley of Shadows by Jonas Matzow Guldbrandsen. 

The Swedish smörgåsbord includes the Berlin competition entry The Real Estate by Måns Månsson and Axel Petersén, to be introduced by actress Léonord Ekstrand and producer Sigrid Helleday, the short films Las Palmas, Dreams from the Woods and Puppet Boy, presented by director Johannes Nyholm, and three documentaries: Citizen Schein by Maud Nycander, Jannike Åhlund and Kersti Grunditz Brenna, as well as Jane Magnusson’s Bergman, a Year in a Life. The Cannes Classics 2018 selection will also open nationwide in Denmark on July 12.

Foss says that “nurturing generic interest takes a lot of work, but that is exactly the goal of the Norwegian/Swedish Film Days.”

The event is held in collaboration with the Swedish Embassy in Denmark, the Norwegian Embassy in Denmark, SVT and NRK.  Camera Film releases between 15-20 films each year of which about 15% are from the Nordic region. Foss’ latest Nordic pick-ups include the Cannes Critics’ Week’s Woman at War by Benedikt Erlingsson (acquired at script stage), Un Certain Regard winner Border by Ali Abbasi and upcoming Anna Odell film X & Y. The latest releases include Thelma, The King’s Choice’ and A Serious Game.