The Nordic Heritage Museum on December 22 announced its third annual Nordic Lights Film Festival to be held January 6th through 8th.

This cutting-edge cinematic festival offers an immersion into the world of hot Nordic films during the chilly winter film season, focusing on contemporary, award-winning films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, according to the museum.

All films are presented at the new SIFF Cinema Center, located in Seattle in the Seattle Center’s Northwest Rooms.

“We have a great line-up of Nordic movies, documentaries and shorts that will appeal to the general public as well as to those who are specifically interested in Nordic film,” said Eric Nelson, the Nordic Heritage Museum’s CEO, in a press release. “There has been a surge of interest in Scandinavian films, but few make it to mainstream US theaters. This is a good opportunity to experience a diverse selection of award-winning films, and Seattle audiences will have the opportunity to meet two filmmakers from Sweden, Anna Wessman and Nilsmagnus Sköld, who are coming to the Northwest to present their film.”

The festival will open Friday, Jan 6 with a reception at SIFF beginning at 7 p.m,, hosted by Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA), followed by the US premiere of the Swedish documentary "When the Pepper Blossoms." The documentary will be presented by the film’s directors Anna Wessman and Nilsmagnus Sköld, who will also make an appearance at The Nordic Heritage Museum for a lunch and lecture at noon that day.

On Saturday, the highlights include the popular Finnish children’s animated "Moomins and the Comet Chase", shown in English with no subtitles; and a rare showing of an award-winning Sami documentary, "Suddenly Sami" from Norway.

Sunday’s highlights include the award-winning Swedish documentary "The Regretters", and the Icelandic feature film "Summerland".

The festival will conclude with the Norwegian feature film King of Devil’s Island, directed by Marius Holst.

Admission is $7 for Nordic Heritage Museum members and SIFF members; $10 for the general public, $9 for students, and $5 for the noon matinées on both Saturday and Sunday. A Nordic Lights Film Festival pass will be also available for purchase through SIFF, $40 for members and $50 for the general public. All ticketing will be through SIFF.

For more information about the films or to buy tickets, visit http://www.SIFF.net.

Film Festival Schedule:
January 6-8, 2012

Friday
7:00 pm
Reception hosted by SWEA Seattle
8:00 pm
Documentary
US Premiere of When the Pepper Blossoms 60 min. (Sweden)
Produced by: Anna Wessman and Nilsmagnus Sköld

Saturday
12:00 pm
Children’s Animated Movie
Moomins and the Comet Chase 75 min. (Finland)
Directed by: Maria Lindberg

2:00 pm
Feature
Miss Kicki 88 min. (Sweden)
Directed by: Håkon Liu

4:00 pm
Feature
Lapland Odyssey 92 min. (Finland)
Directed by: Dome Karukoski

6:00 pm
Feature
In a Better World 119 min. (Denmark)
Directed by: Susanne Bier

9:00 pm
Nordic Shorts
We are proud to present a series of award winning shorts from Denmark, Finland,
Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Film makers from the Nordic countries have a
reputation of producing critically acclaimed short movies. This selection will
showcase recent productions.

Sunday
12:00 pm
Documentary
Suddenly Sami 52 min. (Norway)
Directed by: Ellen-Astri Lundby

2:00 pm
Feature
Summerland 85 min. (Iceland)
Directed by: Grímur Hákonarson

4:00 pm
Short/documentary
Not Panic / Inte Panik 12 min. (Sweden)
Directed by: Elisabeth Marjanovic Cronval

The Regretters 60 min. (Sweden)
Directed by: Marcus Lindeen

7:00 pm
Feature
King of Devil’s Island 120 min (Norway)
Directed by: Marius Holst