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.
The 4:15 PM afternoon session on Saturday, March 15 will include the feature film When the Light Breaks (Ljóbrot, 2024), followed by the short film O (2024), both directed by Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson.
This screening session follows the opening night screening on Friday and a Saturday afternoon session at 2 PM and will be followed by an evening session at 6:30 PM. See the full festival lineup here.
SATURDAY @ 4:15 PM
When the Light Breaks /Ljóbrot
Dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland/Netherlands/Croatia/France, 2024 | 80 min
In Icelandic with English subtitles
A young woman loses her boyfriend in a terrible accident, but must bear the grief alone, as their relationship was a big secret in their small group of friends. The captivating and beautiful film takes place over the course of a single summer day, and encompasses a range of strong emotions from fear, despair and sadness to happiness and hope – all depicted with director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s mix of humor, warmth and raw poetry. Since its premiere at last year’s film festival in Cannes, When the Light Breaks has won several international awards, including Best Feature Film at the Nuuk International Film Festival 2024 and most recently Best Nordic Film at the Gothenburg Film Festival 2025.
O
Dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland, 2024 | 20 min.
In Icelandic with English subtitles
Rúnar Rúnarsson’s latest film, the short film O (2024), is a poetic and powerful portrait of a man’s battle with his own demons during his daughter’s wedding. Shot in black-and-white by Sophia Olsson, the cinematography emphasizes the poetic visual style characteristic of all Rúnarsson’s films.
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.
