Nordic Heritage Museum will open the 8th annual Nordic Lights Film Festival (NLFF) on January 12, 2017 at the Seattle International Film Festival’s (SIFF) Film Center in downtown Seattle. NLFF features contemporary, award-winning films from the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. For the first time, the festival will also feature a special viewing of several short films from the Faroe Islands.
Opening night will include the U.S. premiere of Icelandic film Reverse/Bakk. This film tells the story about two childhood friends who decide to drive around Iceland in reverse. Soon after their trip starts they find out that this was perhaps not the best idea in the world – nothing goes as planned and almost everything goes wrong. Director/Writer/Actor Gunnar Hansson will attend the screening and the reception to follow.
For the first time, NLFF will feature a special Faroese component to the film lineup. We will show a selection of shorts made by young, up-and-coming filmmakers from this region. Wintermorning /Vetrarmorgun and Summernight /Summarnátt by Sakaris Stórá will be shown, in addition to Guilt/Skuld by Heiðrik á Heygum. Both filmmakers are expected to attend the festival.
The closing day is dedicated to Finnish films in honor of Finland’s Centennial in 2017, and will include a closing night reception with special guests.
The complete festival line-up includes critically acclaimed feature-length comedies and dramas, as well as shorts and documentaries. The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki/ Hymyilevä Mies will be Finland’s official Oscar Entry, and has already won several prestigious awards including the International Feature Film Competition main prize at the Zurich Film Festival, Un Certain Regard Award at the 2016 Cannes Film festival, and The Cinema of Scandinavia Awards for best Finnish Film. A War/Krigen was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2016. Several films will have their U.S. premier at the festival, including Reverse/Bakk and Drifters/Tjuvheder.
A full schedule and description of the films is available nordicmuseum.org and tickets are available at SIFF.net.
