The Nordic Heritage Museum will hold its second annual Nordic Lights Film Festival on the second weekend in January, Jan 7 to 9. The festival focuses on contemporary, award-winning films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden and will be presented at SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall.

“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, CEO of the Nordic Heritage Museum.

“Scandinavia generates so many superb films, but few make it to mainstream US theaters. This is a unique opportunity to watch high-quality films from these countries, that you would probably otherwise miss.”

The festival opens on Friday, Jan 7 at 7:00 p.m. with a humorous collection of recent Nordic shorts, and a look at the wilder side of the Nordic countries with “sexy Nordic shorts” beginning at 9:00 p.m.

On Saturday, the highlights include Millennium—The Story, a portrait of Swedish author Steig Larsson, the blockbuster author of the Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Girl Who Played with Fire; and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) who died from a sudden heart attack at the age of 50, before his first novel was even published. Troubled Water, by Erik Poppe chronicles the journey of Jan Thomas, released from prison after serving eight years for what may have been an accident or murder. This Norwegian feature artfully depicts trying to come to terms with the past, and with one’s own fate.

Sunday’s highlights include two Icelandic films. The Future of Hope is a documentary by two British filmmakers, Henry Bateman and Heather Millard, that demonstrates the increasing need to make real progress toward sustainable living and challenges the current media representation of Iceland. Country Wedding is a touching and funny road movie revolving around two busloads of Icelanders attending a wedding at a small church in the country. Sunday will also include a rare showing of the Norwegian short Home Boys—an intimate portrait about Norway’s most outrageous rap group, evidence of the cultural impact that the genre of hiphop has had world-wide; and the Danish feature film When a Man Comes Home, about the homecoming of an opera singer to his native small town, where nothing is as it used to be and all the skeletons come out of the closet.

Admission is $7 for Nordic Heritage Museum members and SIFF members; $10 for the general public.

Tickets are available through the SIFF Cinema Box Office.
SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall is located at 321 Mercer Street in Seattle. For more information please visit www.siff.net or www.nordicmuseum.org.

See the full schedule below:

Friday, Jan 7:

7:00 PM: Nordic Shorts: 85 min

Tile M for Murder – Lägg M för mord (Sweden)
Directed by: Magnus Holmgren, Run time: 8:20 min

Epic Fail – Epik Feil (Iceland)
Directed by: Ragnar Agnarsson, Run time: 13:10 min

Visitor – Ensimmäinen Eskelinen (Finland)
Directed by: Mika Hotakainen, Run time: 15 min

Good Advice – Goda Råd (Sweden)
Directed by: Andreas Tibblin, Run time: 14 min

The Knot – Lite Knute (Norway)
Directed by: Kjersti Steinsbø, Run time: 14 min

The Mouse – Musen (Denmark)
Directed by: Pil Maria Gunnarsson, Run time: 13 min

Hotel Earth – Hótel Jörð (Iceland)
Directed by: Baldvin Z, Run time: 7:43min

9:00 PM: Sexy Nordic Shorts: 74 min

Love is the Law (Norway)
Directed by: Eivind Tolås & Ole Mads Vevle, Run time: 6 min

Burst (Iceland)
Directed by: Reynir Lyngda, Run time: 5 min

A Mate – Kaveri (Finland)
Directed by: Teemu Nikki, Run time: 7 min

Seduction (Norway)
Directed by: Lars Løge, Run time: 1 min

Wrestling – Braedrabylta (Iceland)
Director: Grimur Hakonarson, Run time: 20 min

Old Faithful – Trofast (Norway)
Directed by: Trond Fausa Aurvåg, Run time: 7 min

Birthday – Födelsedag (Sweden)
Director: Jenifer Malmqvist, Run time: 18 min

Tango Finlandia (Finland)
Directors: Hannu Lajunen and Tomi Riionheimo, Run time: 6 min

Saturday, Jan 8:

10:00 AM: Documentary/Shorts

The Referee-Rättskiparen (Sweden)
Directed by: Mattias Löw, Run time: 29 min
Language: Swedish with English subtitles
Swedish soccer referee Martin Hansson had a successful journey towards his vision in life, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Then one dark night in Paris on November 18th, 2009, all hell broke loose…

Instead of Abracadabra (Sweden)
Directed by: Patrik Eklund, Run time: 22 min
Language: Swedish with English subtitles
In this Oscar nominated short, a young man dreams of becoming a magician, while his exasperated father wishes he would find himself a job.

Followed by Nordic bonus shorts.

12:00 PM: Documentary

Millennium – The Story
Directed by: Laurence Lowenthal, Run time: 80 min (incl. talk and questions)
The Millennium trilogy by Swedish author Stieg Larsson is THE literary phenomenon of the last decade with 15 million books sold worldwide, 25 translations in over 40 countries, and a movie that is blasting box-office records in Scandinavia and several European countries. And the Millennium saga has only just begun…
This portrait of Stieg Larsson reveals the story of an outstanding success – a worldwide phenomenon whom at the age of 50, died from a sudden heart attack before his first novel was even published. This planetary triumph is analyzed by close friends and relatives of Stieg Larsson; by his publisher, his journalist colleagues and by various professionals who have worked on the films, including Swedish Producer, Soren Staermose, and the leading actors Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist who play Elisabeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist.

2:00 PM: Feature

The Girl - Flickan (Sweden)
Directed by Fredrik Edfeldt, Run time: 95 min
Language: Swedish with English subtitles
In a lonely house in the countryside a ten-year-old girl takes her first steps from childhood into the world of grown-ups. The girl has to spend her summer with her bohemian aunt when her parents go to Africa to work with an aid project. But the aunt isn’t reliable and when she goes off sailing with a man she has met, the girl decides to take care of herself.
A tragic and humorous journey starts, a journey that will put the girl through many tests. Through her neighbours and occasional visitors to the house she meets an absurd and insensitive grown-up world. Losing contact with reality, she becomes more and more withdrawn from the outside world, yet manages to find some relief in her own world of books, dreams, pictures and experiments.

4:00 PM: Feature

Gimme Some Respect – Vähän kunnioitusta
Directed by: Pekka Karjalainen, Run time: 93 min.
Language: Finnish with English subtitles
A young woman, Siiri is about to move from home. Her aim is to become
independent and she is dreaming about love, like many young women.
However, there is one separating factor: Siiri is intellectually disabled.
Siiri is proceeding well in becoming independent. She lives in an innovative
dormitory and will not live on social security and instead gets a real job.
Siiri becomes friends with Suski who lives in the same dormitory. With Suski, Siiri experiences freedom and excitement but also gets to see the darkest sides of life.

7:00 PM: Feature

Troubled Water – DeUsynlige (Norway)
Directed by:Erik Poppe, Run time: 115 min
Language: Norwegian with English subtitles
Jan, recently released from prison after serving time for the murder of a child, has always maintained his innocence and is ready to put the past behind him. A gifted organist, he takes a job at an Oslo church under his middle name, Thomas. His talent and gentle manner quickly earn him the respect of his superiors, as well as the love of the pastor, Anna. Thomas even overcomes his initial panic to return the affection of Anna’s young son, Jens. But his past catches up with him when Agnes, a local teacher, comes to the church on a school visit and recognizes the organist as Jan, the young man who was convicted for the murder of her son.

Sunday, Jan 9:

12:00 PM: Documentary
Future of Hope (Iceland)
Directed by: Henry Bateman, Run time: 75 min.
Language: English
This feature-length documentary brings unique insight into the positive sight of the nation of Iceland. Future of Hope powerfully demonstrates the increasing need to make real progress toward sustainable living. The character-driven documentary follows individuals as they try to swim upstream to escape bankruptcy, lead by example, innovate and inspire. Through the eyes of the Icelandic people we see challenges, emotion and optimism as they begin to adapt their lifestyles and businesses. The documentary also offers an alternative view of Iceland to the one represented in foreign media, being the first documentary to look at the optimistic side of the economic downturn.
The documentary produced by Heather Millard and directed by Henry Bateman is realized by the stunning backdrop of some of the world’s most beautiful landscapes; thermal springs, active volcanoes, geysers and glaciers.

2:00 PM
Feature

Country Wedding – Sveitabrúðkaup(Iceland)
Directed by: Valdís Óskarsdóttir, Run time: 99 min
Language: Icelandic with English subtitles
Ingibjorg, the bride and Bardi, the groom, have decided to get married after living together for three years. The ceremony is to be held in a small church, an hour’s drive from Reykjavik. Ingibjorg wants to keep to the tradition of not letting the groom see the bride dressed in white until at the ceremony. Therefore, Ingibjorg, Bardi and the guests – family and close friends and not so close unwelcome friends, drive off in two buses with champagne and a wedding cake. No one knows exactly where this country church is located except for Bardi, who got the direction from the priest over the phone. After driving for hundreds of miles around the fjord they discover that they are lost.

4:00 PM
Documentary/short

Home Boys- Heimegutar (Norway)
Director: Turid Rogne, Run time: 57 min
Language: Norwegian (mostly nynorsk) with English subtitles.
When Norwegian rap group Side Brok suddenly appeared on the national music scene, rapping in their own dialect with humorous and sarcastic lyrics inspired by their hometown Ørsta on the west coast of Norway, the critics hardly knew what to believe. The audience loved them, but was small town hip-hop intended as a joke or was Side Brok actually serious about their music? Home Boys is an intimate portrait of Norway’s most outrageous and against-all-odds successful rap group through the first six years of their career. Starting with their concert debut in 2003, the film follows them backstage from their national breakthrough through ups and downs on the bumpy road to their third and most recent album-release in 2009. It is a story of growing up in a small town, and coming to terms with your own roots and identity in a creative way. The film portrays a distinctly Norwegian hip-hop universe of mountains, fjords, cars, booze, humor and irony, but also of true friendship and love of words and music.
The film Home Boys also features New York-rapper Thirstin Howl III in a unique collaboration with Side Brok in Norway. Side Brok is living evidence of the great cultural impact and power to inspire that the genre of hip-hop has had - and still has - in any unlikely corner of the world.

Citizen - Kaupunkilaisia (Finland)
Directed by: Juho Kuosmanen, Run time: 29 min
Language: Finnish with English subtitles
Finnish Marko and Somalian Yasin are today's temporary workers. These men have both ended up as citizens of Helsinki, for different reasons and unwillingly. The men hope they could provide a living for themselves and their families. They both are planning on having decent jobs and a sane everyday life. Marko wants to buy a car, and Yasin wants to get rid of his. So they meet each other and due to a misfortune, they have to adjust their plans.

7:00 PM: Feature

When a Man Comes Home – En mand kommer hem (Denmark)
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, Run time: 100 min
Language: Danish with English subtitles

It’s summertime and the famous Karl Kristian Schmidt is on his way home to his native town to lend luster to it with his performance. The town has come alive, and the centre of all the madness and expectations we find Sebastian, who is engaged to beautiful Claudia. However, when Maria shows up, they reunite in a ripe grain field, setting Sebastian’s whole life on a catastrophic course. At long last, the world famous opera singer arrives to the sound of the cheering masses and soon after he becomes acquainted with Sebastian’s break-up with Claudia and love affair with Maria. During a grand gala dinner the skeletons come rattling out of the closet. A man has come – and nothing is as it used to be!