Join us on March 14 & 15 for the festival West Nordic Film Days, a celebration of cinema from Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands! Presented in partnership with Nordic National Museum in Seattle, in-person screenings will take place at Scandinavia House in New York and Majestic Bay Theatres in Seattle on Friday and Saturday. Curated by Birgir Thor Møller, the selection of films at West Nordic Film Days reflects the current development and tendencies in West Nordic cinema as well as the diversity, combining films by prolific, prizewinning directors and upcoming filmmakers, who all live in and tell their stories from very different parts of the region.
Opening Night on Friday, March 14 will include screenings of the Icelandic feature film Solitude (Tilverur, dir. Ninna Rún Pálmadóttir, 2022), followed by the Faroese short film Omman (Grandmother, 2019, dir. Julia í Kálvalí) and and the Greenlandic short film Entropy (dir. Inuk Jørgensen, 2024). The festival will continue on Saturday with additional sessions at 2 PM, 4:15 PM, and 6:30 PM. See the full festival lineup here.
OPENING NIGHT
Solitude /Tilverur
Dir. Ninna Pálmadóttir, Iceland/Slovakia/France, 2022 | 75 min.
In Icelandic with English subtitles
A farmer that lives a quiet life in the countryside is forced by the state to sell his home. He leaves everything behind, relocates to the capital, and soon meets a 10-year-old paper delivery boy. Their friendship proves to be transformative for them both. With warmth, rich nuances and great sensitivity, director Ninna Pálmadóttir’ poetic feature film celebrates the comfort and care that an unexpected connection can provide, especially for two loners who could use a little more kindness in their lives. Pálmadóttir has previously directed the award-winning short films Paperboy (2019) and All Dogs Die (2021),
Omman /Grandmother
Dir. Julia í Kálvalí, Faroe Islands, 2019 | 12 min.
In Faroese with English subtitles
Two brothers head up to the mountains to pick up their alcoholic grandmother who has gone on another drinking spree in her tent. Upon arrival, they realize that the grandmother has drunk herself to death. Ahead of them lies a disturbing journey home. Omman (Grandmother) is directed by the Faroese director Julia í Kálvalíð, who has a wonderful talent for serving tragicomic stories, combining dark Nordic humor with sparks of color.
Entropy
Dir. Inuk Jørgensen, Greenland, 2023 | 10 min.
In English & Kalaallisut with English subtitles
The vast Greenlandic ice sheet has been created over thousands of years, with snowfall after snowfall molding the land the Inuit call home. As the ice cap is melting, the water will never be able to form this type of ice again. In Greenlandic filmmaker Inuk Jørgensen’s scenic short film Entropy, the ice cap becomes a symbol of the director’s own people, who have always lived in a close and sacred connection with the nature around them – a connection that is threatened as the ice melts beneath their feet. Climate change is the omnipresent threat in a film that celebrates Greenlandic mythologies and myths as much as it laments the nature we are all losing.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The West Nordic countries have attracted foreign filmmakers since the dawn of cinema. In the late 1970s, however, Iceland began to develop a national film industry, gaining domestic and international attention and recognition. The history of Greenlandic, Faroese and Sami film production is of a bit later date, yet in recent years an increasing number of their films have attracted attention, both at home and abroad. Curated by Birgir Thor Møller, the selection of films at West Nordic Film Days will not only reflect the current development and tendencies in West Nordic cinema, but also the diversity, combining films by prolific, prizewinning directors and upcoming filmmakers, who all live in and tell their stories from very different parts of the region.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Birgir Thor Møller was born (1970) in Iceland, but lives in Copenhagen. He is the head of the annual film festival North Atlantic Film Days (Nordatlantiske Filmdage) at The North Atlantic House (Nordatlantens Brygge) in Copenhagen, where he also holds the position as program editor. Apart from organizing film, literature and other cultural events and festivals since 2005, Møller has published essays and articles related to Nordic and especially North Atlantic cinema and film history in a variety of publications, including the books Transnational Cinema in a Global North: Nordic Cinema in Transition and Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema. He has also been a jury member at the film festival Nordic Panorama in Sweden (New Nordic Voices 2023) and at the Faroes short film awards Geytin 2025, and he holds an M.A. in film studies from the Institute of Film and Media Studies, University of Copenhagen.
SUPPORT
West Nordic Film Days is presented a partnership with The National Nordic Museum in Seattle.
