Must-see Nordic films at Palace Regent

UNCOVER the best new cinema from the Nordic region at Palace Regent Cinema’s Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival.

Running until Sunday 3 August, the lineup includes films from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland ranging from epic dramas to sweeping romances.

“I feel like seeing a film from a completely different country and a completely different language, you actually see the world through a different set of eyes,” festival director Elysia Zeccola said.

Festival highlights include the Australian premiers of Quisling: The Final Days which follows the trial of Vidkun Quisling, and black comedy Grand Finale about a near-bankrupt chamber orchestra in Reykjavik.

Opening the festival was spy drama Number 24 depicting the true story of a Norwegian resistance fighter.

The festival’s centrepiece is Sentimental Value, an intimate portrayal family and memories which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Film Festival.

Ms Zeccola said she believes there are several aspects of Nordic films Australians will enjoy, including their humour and geography.

“Australians have quite a connection to nature and the land and so do Nordic countries,” she said.

“You often have these really beautiful windswept locations and sometimes there’s a sense of isolation.

“I think we really relate to that.”

Ms Zeccola also encouraged attendees to see The Last Paradise on Earth, a drama the captures the landscapes of the Faroe Islands.

“There’s a particular film that’s an unknown film from a debut filmmaker, it doesn’t star anyone famous, and it’s called The Last Paradise on Earth and is set on the Faroe Islands,” she said.

“It’s just looks like an alien planet… the landscape is so different, and the architecture is so different.

“There’s something really intriguing about that.”

To view the full program and book a ticket, visit scandinavianfilmfestival.com.