The three-day film festival which is hosting the Nordic Council Film Prize nominees, is making its debut this week in Aarhus, Denmark.

The first Aarhus Film Days unspooling October 27-29 at the iconic Øst for Paradis cinema in Aarhus, Denmark is backed by Filmby Aarhus, the long-standing Danish distribution and exhibition group Øst for Paradis and the National Film School of Denmark, with support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond. The film festival is the latest addition to Filmby Aarhus’ media event THIS (October 31-November 2) and its sister events Aarhus Series (November 1-5) and Series Awards (November 2).

“So far at our storytelling-focused event, we were covering games, series, but not film, which is the most important traditional place to tell stories. Now we have everything that a media festival should have,” said festival director Felicia Elisabeth Jackson.

The audience-led Aarhus Film Days sets focus on films that have social relevance and cultural impact. A dozen titles will be screening including the six Nordic Council Film Prize nominees: Denmark’s Empire by Frederikke Aspöck, Finland’s Bubble by Aleksi Salmenperä, Greenland’s The Edge of the Shadows by Malik Kleist, Iceland’s Driving Mum by Hilmar Oddsson, Norway’s War Sailor by Gunnar Vikene and Sweden’s Opponent by Milad Alami.

Other titles screening include Dagur Kári’s Danish/Icelandic comedy Hygge, the Norwegian Oscar entry Songs of Earth by Margreth Olin and the French Palme d’or winning film Anatomy of a Fall.

Industry talks (held in Danish) will tackle representation and humour in Danish film, while director Christian Andersen and actor Johanne Louise Schmidt (Department Q film series) will be on hand to present the film in works in progress Synkefri.

Meanwhile the three-track industry conference event THIS Game, THIS Conference and THIS Series will lend its stage to keynote speakers invited to discuss what it takes to survive in the media industry and how to stay relevant for future generations.

International executives set to deliver inspirational talks include Ben Phipps, Tik Tok’s head of UK & Nordics, Travis Grizzel, principal technical advisor at Amazon, Tetris’ chairman Henk Rogers, media guru and cartographer Evan Shapiro, consumer trends leading analyst Henry Coutinho-Mason, Wisteria Productions’ franchise specialist Rob Hudnut and video games experts Joost van Dreunen and Hal Bame.

Nordic panellists lined up for THIS Series take in Danish media analyst Keld Reinicke, drama bosses Henriette Marienlund from DR, Marianne Furevold-Boland from NRK, Pernille Beck Christensen from TV2 Denmark, Suvi Mansnerus from Yle, and Andreas Hjertø from Prime Video.

As part of a collaboration with Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision and Bergen’s Nordic Media Days, media analyst Johanna Koljonen will present the Nostradamus 2023 report ‘Everything Changing All at Once’ and US podcast producers Andy Mills and Matthew Boll will talk ‘Tools for World Class Audio Storytelling’.

“Together with Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision head Cia Edström and Nordic Film Days’ festival director Guri Heftye, we are sharing our best practices and knowledge to create the best inspirational platforms for Nordic professionals,” said Jackson.

New Nordic series to be presented by their creators include Ruset, the first Swedish TikTok show focusing on YA alcohol culture created by Sofie Forsman (Young Royals, The Playlist), SVT’s criminal gang-focused Taelgia, TV2 Norway’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize winning series Kids in Crime, Yle’s Hormones! And Netflix’s Baby Fever S2.

Looking at the next gen of Nordic writing talents, four teams of rising series creators part of the Netflix-Filmtalent joint initiative Serieskolen will pitch their series concept, to be judged by Maj-Britt Landin, Drive Studios’ head of scripted/executive producer, and Apple Tree Productions founder Piv Bernth.

Aarhus Series will present four Danish series including the event crime show Oxen while the high-profile Series Awards will spotlight 11 Danish - and Nordic - series vying in 11 categories. This year’s series competing for best Nordic series are SVT’s Taelgia, Blackwater and TV2 Norway’s Kids in Crime.

For further details, check: www.thisaarhus.com