SFFLA 2015

Scandinavian Film Festival Los Angeles 2015

The 16th Annual Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. showcases the best and finest films from the Nordic countries. This is the place where Nordic film 'winters' in Southern California. SFFLA was launched in the year 2000 and features as many as possible of the Nordic Oscar submissions. Starting in 2014 with BALTIC FILM EXPO at SFFLA, the festival initiated cinematic offerings from the three Baltic nations - Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

It all takes place over two weekends: January 17, 18, 24, 25, 2015 at the Writers Guild Theater: 135 South Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills, CA, 90211.

This year's festival is dedicated to the loving memory of David Larson (11/1/1950-10/26/2014) partner and pathfinder, co-founder and collaborator, without whose hard work, love and generosity, SFFLA would not have been possible.

Screening Schedule:

Saturday, January 17

11:00am: The Optimists ★★★
(Optimistene), Norway, 2013, 90 minutes, Brunhild Westhagen



A moving, humorous, and absorbing documentary about an extraordinary volleyball team in the town of Hamar; consisting of ladies between 66 and 98. Many of us fear age, but these ladies will change our ideas.

1:00pm: It's Only Make-Believe ★★
(Eventryland), Norway, 2013, 91 minutes, Arild Ostin Ommundsen

 

After serving 10 years in prison for murder, Jenny returns to society. She wants to live a quiet life and resume her responsibilities as a mother. But soon shadows from the past start to appear. It’s Only Make Believe is a warm tale of love and longing.

3:00pm: Antboy 2: The Revenge of the Red Furry
(Antboy: Den Røde Furies hæv), Denmark, 2014, 77 minutes, Ask Hasselbalch


In Antboy, 12-year-old Pelle is bitten by an ant and develops superpowers. With his comic book nerd buddy, he creates a secret identity as superhero as Antboy. The two are on to new adventures in The Revenge of the Red Furry.


4:30pm: Sorrow and Joy ★★★
(Sorg og glæde), Denmark, 2013, 107 minutes, Nils Malmros (Oscar Submission)

Filmmaker Johannes and his wife, schoolteacher Signe, experience the biggest sorrow and misfortune imaginable. Yet, in all the hopelessness they must try to reach for mutual and mature love in order to continue life after death. One of Danish films most significant personalities, Malmros characters have a strong autobiographical element.


6:30pm: Opening Gala and Buffet, Great Food & Drinks to open SFFLA's 16th Anniversary year!

Join us for drinks at our opening gala which includes a delicious buffet. If you want to purchase an online ticket for the gala please click on the Tickets Link in the purple bar above.  You can then add the gala to your shopping cart. Purchasing this $40 gala ticket will also include the 8:00 pm screening of A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Contemplating Existence.





8:00pm: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence ★★★★
(En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron), Sweden, 2014, 101 minutes, Roy Andersson






Swedish master Roy Andersson (Songs from the Second Floor) returns with this absurdist, surrealistic and shocking pitch-black comedy, which moves freely from nightmare to fantasy to hilariously deadpan humour as it muses on man’s perpetual inhumanity to man. The third part of his “living” trilogy, the film premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival where it was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Film.

Sunday, January 18

11:00am: Whale Valley (short)
(Hvalfjörður), Iceland, 2013, 15 minutes, Gudmundur Gudmundson


Two brothers struggle to find their place and purpose while living by a  small remote fjord in Iceland. Special mention at Cannes Film Festival and winner of Best Short Film at Hamptons Int'l Film Festival.

11:15am: Life in a Fishbowl ★★★
(Vonarstræti), Iceland, 2014, 130 minutes, Baldwin Zophoniasson (Oscar Submission)

Three tales of three people who have a lasting effect on one another.  A young writer whose career is skyrocketing finds himself in a stormy marriage.  He divorces his wife after the death of their daughter, shuts himself off from the outside world and drinks himself to death over a twenty-year period.

2:00pm: Speed Walking ★★★
(Kapgang), Denmark, 2014, 109 minutes, Niels Arden Oplev

In a quirky, small town, situated on the outskirts of everything, 14 year old Martin is getting ready for on of the most formal transitions from boy to man, the communion. It’s 1976, music is in the air and hormones are blossoming. But in the midst of it all Martin’s mother suddenly passes away and her tragic death triggers a series of events that not only change Martin’s life forever, but also affect everyone else in the local community. An intense, humorous and evocative story about how life and death demand a transition in us all.


5:00pm: Heart of a Lion ★★★★
(Leijonasydän), Finland, 2013, 104 minutes, Dome Karukoski



The film tells the story about a Neo-Nazi named Teppo, who falls in love with a woman named Sari. He later finds out that Sari's son from the previous marriage is black. This leads Teppo to trouble with his fellow Neo-Nazis, especially his half-brother Harri.

 

7:30pm: 1001 Grams ★★★★
(1001 Gram), Norway, 2014, 93 minutes, Bent Hamer (Oscar Submission)





The Bent Hamer (Kitchen Stories) film revolves around Anna, a scientist who specializes in weights and measures, lives a life of precision, rigidity and solitude. But when her father, a fellow scientist, suffers a heart attack, Anna’s world falls out of perfect alignment. Wry and winsome, this beautifully told and thoughtful human story—and Norway’s official submission for the Academy Awards—follows Anna on a journey from Norway to France and back, as she attempts to find the right balance in her life.

Saturday, January 24

 

10:30am: Ivan's Day (short) ★★★
(Ivanipäev), Estonia, 2014, 30 minutes, Ivan Pavljutskov



Story of a perfect summer day, love and being a stranger in one’s own homeland.







11:30am: In the Crosswind ★★★
(Risttuules), Estonia, 2014, 87 minutes, Martti Helde



In 1941, an Estonian woman and her young daughter struggle to find their way home after being deported to Siberia by the Soviet occupiers, in this dreamlike saga of survival inspired by a true story. Alissa Simon of Variety wrote: In the Crosswind” offers a unique take on the moving picture, a black and white slice of history that mixes live- action with living tableaux to provide a requiem for the inhabitants of the Baltic countries who, in the summer of 1941, were deported to Siberia or killed on Stalin’s orders..... An art film in every sense... the extraordinary visual techniques offer those open to a different sort of cinema...a very poignant experience.”

RERUN

1:30pm: The Optimists ★★★

(Optimistene), Norway, 2013, 90 minutes, Brunhild Westhagen



A moving, humorous, and absorbing documentary about an extraordinary volleyball team in the town of Hamar; consisting of ladies between 66 and 98. Many of us fear age, but these ladies will change our ideas.

3:30pm: Concrete Night ★★★★★
(Betoniyö), Finland, 2013, 96 minutes, Pirjo Honkasalo (Oscar submission)



A dream-like odyssey through beautiful Helsinki over the course of one night for two brothers whose chaotic home is in the heart of a concrete jungle in Helsinki. The protagonist of the film is a 14 year-old boy on a journey of self-discovery. His unpredictable mother wants him to spend the evening with his older brother who has one last day of freedom before starting a prison sentence.

5:00pm: Force Majeure ★★★
(Turist), Sweden, 2014, 118 minutes, Ruben Östlund (Oscar submission)


A family on a ski vacation in the French alps find themselves staring down an avalanche while they’re having lunch one day. In the aftermath, the family dynamic is shaken to the core after the father “runs for his life” to save himself.











7:30pm: SWEA Grant Presentation, The Dogwalker (short) ★★★
(Hundvakten), Sweden, 2014, 14 minutes, Caroline Ingvarsson

8:00pm: Miss Julie ★★
(Fröken Julie), Sweden, 2013, 85 minutes, Mikael Berg





A beautiful and bold new adaptation of Strindberg's classic battle of the sexes play set on a Midsummer's night in a rustic mansion in 1920s Europe.

Sunday, January 25

11:00am: Pioneer ★★★★
(Pionér), Norway, 2013, 111 minutes, Erik Skjoldbjaerg




 

A thriller set at the beginning of the 1980's Norwegian Oil Boom and centered on a diver whose obsession with reaching the bottom of the North Sea leads to tragedy.











1:15pm: The Gambler ★★★★
(Losejas), Lithuania, 2013, 109 minutes, Ignas Jonynas


 

Paramedic Vincentas is a passionate gambler, who is forced to make radical decisions to return the debts. An idea strikes Vincentas to create an illegal game related to his profession. Love, life and death will be at stake.





3:30pm: Raspberry Boat Refugee ★★★
(Vadelmavenepakolainen), Finland, 2014, 87 minutes, Leif Lindblom

The film is a comedy about a Swedish man trapped in the body of a Finn. Mikko Virtanen has hated everything Finnish since childhood and has always thought he was actually Swedish. While traveling he meets a Swedish psychologist who is thoroughly fed up with the Swedish culture of rational moderation. The two come up with a plot switch identities— but Mikko has to get his new Swedish family.


5:30pm: In Order of Disappearance (Canceled)
(Kraftidioten), Norway, 2014, 115 minutes, Hans Petter Moland

Premiered at the 64th Berlin Film Festival. With a pitch-black sense of humor and a snowballing body count, upstanding community leader Nils(Stellan Skarsgård) who has just won an award for “Citizen of the Year” when he learns the news that his son has died of a heroin overdose. Suspecting foul play, Nils begins to investigate, which leads to a quest for vengeance which lands him in the crossfire between two rival gangs: one local, one "imported" from Serbia.

7:30pm: Itsi Bitsi ★★★
(Itsi Bitsi), Denmark, 2014, 107 minutes, Ole Christian Madsen

Based on actual events, Madsen (SuperClásico, Kira’s Reason) takes us to to the Danish rock scene in 1962 with a young generation rebelling against the Establishment. Peace activist Eik Skaløe meets Iben and falls head over heels in love, but Iben refuses to commit herself to one man only. Desperate, Eik tries to win her over by transforming from poet to writer, nomad, junkie and eventually lead singer in the destined-to-become- legendary band STEPPEULVENE.



For tickets and more information please visit: http://www.sffla.net/