The Artist (PG-13)(showtimes) Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break. The Artist - official website
The Grey (R)(showtimes) In Alaska, an oil drilling team struggle to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wild. Hunting the humans are a pack of wolves who see them as intruders. The Grey - official website
Princess (NR)(showtimes) Princess is a light-hearted film based on a true story, concerning the most famous patient of Kellokoski Psychiatric Hospital, Anna Lappalainen. Diagnosed as manic depressive with symptoms of schizophrenia, Anna Lappalainen claims to be a princess when brought into the hospital and does not want to be called by her own name. Her arrival kick-starts a long battle between Lappalainen and the hospital staff over her identity and her right to dictate her own personality. Eventually Kellokoski Hospital becomes the Princess’s castle, where Anna holds court bringing joy and healing to her surroundings. Princess - official website
Summerland (NR)(showtimes) An art-house comedy about an ordinary family running the unusual business of elf tourism and spiritual sessions. Lára, a mother of two, is gifted with a sixth sense. Not only does she communicate with people in Summerland (the sweet hereafter) in open séance sessions, but she also has good connections with elves. Lara attends to the big elf stone in their garden every day while Oscar runs the elf tourism business and medium sessions. Business is not exactly blooming, so when he gets an offer from a German eccentric to sell the stone for a substantial sum, he becomes very tempted. Summerland - official website
Nordic Shorts (NR)(showtimes) The shorts program is back with its quirky Nordic flare; through documentary, comedy, animation, and drama, Nordic Shorts is a series of crowd-pleasing films audience members can relate to and enjoy. Focused on the theme of family and friends, this program includes everything from blending single parent families to worrying about your birthday party and wanting a new toy. A little gambling and a few super powers spice up the program too. Nordic Shorts is always a highlight of the festival--Join us at one of the four screenings! Nordic Shorts - official website
Sami Documentaries (NR)(showtimes) Two Documentaries Melting Lives – Rain in the Middle of Winter In this last part in a documentary series called ”Victims of the New Climate” on climate change in the Arctic region, the filmmaker Samuel Idivuoma meets Girste, a female reindeer herder in the Dálbma Sámi village in northern Sweden. The series takes us on a journey around the Arctic to indigenous people who live in and with nature, and who struggle to keep their way of subsistence living when the climate drastically changes. 24-year old Girste is Sami and can’t imagine another life for herself than that of a reindeer herder. However, the mild winters and hot summers present challenges for her and her reindeer, who for centuries have been dependent on the Arctic climate.
Forced Ashore This documentary follows a young Sámi fisherman who wants to earn his income from the sea but who runs into the regulations of the Norwegian state. While the sea Sámi have traditionally lived off fishing off the coast of Norway, their fishing rights were compromised 25 years ago. If the Sámi want their fishing quotas in 2010, they need to purchase them. This is a film about the conflicts between the Norwegian state, the larger fishing companies, and indigenous peoples. Sami Documentaries - official website
Future of Hope (NR)(showtimes) A character-driven documentary following individuals who, after the breakdown of Icelandic economy in 2008, strive to change the world of consumerism. The film questions the system of credit and debt that the Icelandic economy, as all western economies, have been built upon for the past 50 years or more. Focusing on sustainable developments in nature, organic farming, business, innovation, and renewable energy, we are taken on a story of struggle, determination, and, most importantly, hope. Future of Hope takes you on a journey of Iceland as well as on a journey of change. Is capitalism the only viable future, or are there alternative, better ways to organize economic societies? Future of Hope - official website
Inuk (NR)(showtimes) Sixteen-year-old city-boy Inuk is living a troubled life when he is pulled half-frozen from an abandoned car and sent North to a children’s home in the desolate Arctic. There he meets local polar bear hunter Ikuma, and the two set out on an epic dogsled voyage where the challenges don’t stop at bitter cold and fragile sea-ice; the greatest challenges they face are ones within themselves. A universal theme of the quest for identity and rebirth is portrayed in a powerful film that speaks just as much to the story of Greenland today: a country torn between tradition and modernity. The authenticity of this story is intensified with its exceptional performances by nonprofessional Inuit actors: teenagers from a home for neglected Inuit children and local seal hunters. Inuk - official website
Moomins and the Comet Chase (NR)(showtimes) One day Moomintroll notices that something strange has happened in the Moomin Valley - everything is grey; not just the sky and the river, but the trees, the ground, and the Moominhouse, too. With the help of his father, Moominpappa, Moomintroll and his worried friends build the best raft ever and begin a challenging journey to the observatory to ask the wise professors what is going on. At the observatory, the professor calculates that a ferocious comet will reach the Earth in four days, four hours, four minutes and 44 seconds. It's time to go back home as fast as they can—surviving an unexpected number of peculiar creatures and dangers on the way. Will they be able to make everybody safe in time? Moomins and the Comet Chase - official website
King of Devil's Island (NR)(showtimes) Based on a true event in 1915 on Bastøy island, a correctional facility for juveniles, a group of headstrong inmates revolt against the inhumane conditions imposed by the leadership of the facility. A new boy, Erling, arrives with his own agenda—escaping from the island—and this leads to a violent uprising. Once the boys manage to take over Bastøy, 150 government soldiers are sent in to restore order. The evil warden is played by renowned Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård. The real-life Bastøy operated as a penal colony for boys from 1900 to 1953. It has since been reinvented as “the first ecological prison in the world.” King of Devil's Island - official website
Regretters (NR)(showtimes) Orlando and Mikael go under the knife in hope of finding their true selves, only to realize that life on the other side isn’t what they dreamed it would be. Now, well into their 60s, the two meet for the first time to talk about their lives as well as the one defining regret they both share: their sex change. In a candid conversation between the two, the men explore their past and present experiences and gender identities. Regretters - official website
