Incredible coverage of 4 years in the office of the Swedish foreign minister, Margot Wallström, known for her fearless feminist agenda and sharp, empathic mind. We witness her arduous negotiations with Saudi Arabia, Israel and North Korea, as well as a highly competitive campaign for a seat in the UNSC, followed by a crash course in keeping it cool in the face of death threats and intimidation.
AWARDS: Special Mention of the International Jury @ Visioni dal Mondo 2019
“If cinema was a religion, this would be Mecca, the Vatican.
This is the center of it all.” So said acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu when entering the Berg-man compound on the remote island of Fårö, on a cold November night in 2011.
Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman built his house in the mid 1960’s, choosing to withdraw from Stockholm, to an island in the Baltic Sea. Throughout his life, the exact location of the house was a well-guarded secret. Here the demon director would live and shoot some of his seminal films until his death in 2007.
“Trespassing Bergman” takes you to Berg-man’s mystical home in the company of great directors such as Michael Haneke, Claire Denis and the aforementioned Iñárritu. “Trespassing Bergman” tells the story of Ingmar Bergman, his island and some of his most central films.
Previously unseen, behind-the-scenes, footage from the making of Bergman’s films are mixed with interviews shot at Fårö and around the world. Filmmakers such as Woody Allen, Lars von Trier, Holly Hunter, Ang Lee and Wes Anderson talk about the impact that films ranging from “Summer with Monika” (1953),“Persona” (1966) to “Fanny and Alexander” (1982) have had on their lives and carriers.
“Trespassing Bergman” is about exploring Bergman’s home, his life, his films and his legacy
In a remote Icelandic town, an off-duty police chief (a chilling Ingvar Sigurdsson, who received Cannes’ Critics’ Week award for Best Actor for his performance) begins to suspect a local man of having had an affair with his late wife, who died in a tragic accident two years earlier. Gradually his obsession for finding out the truth takes over his life and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones. Combining classic thriller tropes with a distinctly Nordic arthouse sensibility, the second feature from Hlynur Palmason “engages in storytelling that’s both powerful and fresh throughout, marking him as a talent to watch” (The Hollywood Reporter).
Director: Hlynur Palmason
109 Minutes | Icelandic (with English subtitles) | Drama, Thriller | $12 ($10 for SCC Members)
Since his untimely death at just 50 years of age, Stieg Larsson has become one of the world’s most famous authors. His Millennium Trilogy novels – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels – have sold more than 90 million copies worldwide and spawned multiple film adaptations. This fascinating documentary paints the little-known, and equally compelling portrait of the man before the books whose life was replete with the intrigue and danger that fuelled his novels.
Larsson’s obsessive pursuit of tracking extremist far right and neo-Nazi groups as an investigative journalist made him an expert in a field that’s only grown more politically relevant, both in his native Sweden and beyond. Defying intimidation and death threats, he warned of the disturbing growth of the far right as a political force. With unprecedented access to the author’s meticulously researched and politically charged archives, as well as interviews with his life partner and colleagues, Stieg Larsson – The Man Who Played with Fire reveals a man who was determined to protect the endangered principles of democracy and freedom at any cost.
DIRECTOR: Henrik Georgsson
99 min | Documentary, Biography | Sweden
Swedish with English subtitles
Sunday, July 19th at noon – Saturday, July 25th at noon from the comfort of your home through on xerb.tv
The competition for the head offices of the Nobel Centre in Stockholm presented as a nail-biting thriller. Nobel Snowflake follows the Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh on his quest to find the ultimate design, in the shape of a snowflake. Eleven of the 175 teams are selected to take part, among them Wingårdh. That’s when the problems really start. Kajsa Andersö’s film shows all the tragic and amusing aspects of the prestigious competition, with an unexpected ending. An entertaining peek behind the scenes.
online at xerb.tv | Sunday, July 26th – Saturday, August 1st | $5
Swedish master Ingmar Bergman penned this loving tribute to his parent’s epic romance. In 1909, poor, idealistic theology student Henrik Bergman falls in love with Anna Åkerbloom, the intelligent, educated daughter of a rich family in Uppsala. After their wedding Henrik becomes a priest in the north of Sweden. Urbane Anna can’t stand living in the rural county and grows increasingly restless. She returns to Uppsala and the couple’s love and commitment are put to the test.
The Cultural Heritage through Image project was born out of a pedagogical experiment applying the principles of cultural heritage to teach the premodern and out the personal belief in the art and power of photography. Project leader Dr. Kisha Tracy is Associate Professor of English Studies at Fitchburg State University, specializing in medieval and early world literatures. In addition, she is an amateur photographer. When traveling as a medievalist and premodern scholar, she photographs the sites she visits. Cultural Heritage through Image developed out of the realization that this photography was informed by the expertise of the photographer and communicated much about the significance of its subjects.
The focus of the project is to parallel through image the ancient to medieval cultural heritage stories from other countries, particularly in Europe, to the cultural heritage stories of local communities, particularly centered on New England. Students and community members select premodern cultural heritage they wish to study from a photo taken by Tracy. After researching this initial heritage, they then explore the purpose, function, and deeper meanings of this heritage in order to connect it to local heritage with similar characteristics. Contributors create their own researched exhibition notes, focused on the connections they have made, that are included in the digital exhibition of the project. Photographs of the local heritage are taken by students, community members, and Tracy. This physical exhibition is unique in that the notes are highlighted as much as the images. Participants in the project have included students at Fitchburg State, community members from various New England cities, Boys and Girls Club students, historical societies, and libraries. In the exhibition here at the Scandinavian Cultural Center, the entries are all focused on Scandinavian medieval cultural heritage.
In this exhibition, ideas about overarching concepts of cultural heritage are clearly evident. Contributors note how the values of cultures are encapsulated by cultural heritage and ways these values of different time periods can be analyzed, particularly through image.
On display through January 2020. (email for viewing times)
It’s the summer of 1980, and Björn Borg is the top tennis player in the world, dominating the sport both on and off the court. A powerful and rigorously disciplined player, there is only one obstacle in his pursuit of a record-breaking fifth Wimbledon championship: the highly talented but ferociously abrasive young American John McEnroe. With three days until the tournament begins, Borg trains religiously in his lavish Monaco home, aided by his coach and mentor Lennart and girlfriend Mariana.
Saturday, February 15th | 1:30 | Free; $5 suggested donation
100 minutes. In English, Spanish, Swedish, French, German with English subtitles.
Films start at 1:30pm. Refreshments for attendees are served at 1pm. Lunch (not included) is available in the Kaffestugan, which is open until 3pm every Saturday.
An 80-year-old Finnish farmer who reluctantly goes to live with his youngest son and his uptight, career-oriented wife following a debilitating domestic accident. A proud man who takes deep pride in his ability to remain self-sufficient, the aging farmer (Antti Litja) lives in the countryside alone after his wife is hospitalized. His days are spent tilling the fields until an accident leaves in need of medical assistance. As the son travels back to the farm to gather up some belongings, the old man arrives in Helsinki, where his Type-A daughter-in-law obviously resents his presence. And the feeling is mutual, too; both the farmer and his son’s wife are completely set in their ways, and any deviation from their daily routine is unwelcome at best. From the moment the aging curmudgeon arrives in the city, it’s apparent he’s out of his element. Meanwhile his constant meddling not only threatens to derail an important business deal being brokered by his daughter-in-law, but begins to put a serious strain on his son’s marriage as well. Later, it becomes increasingly obvious that the ornery octogenarian harbors some painful secrets made all-the-more problematic by his stubborn refusal to address them.
Saturday, March 21st | 1:30 | Free; $5 suggested donation
104 minutes. In English, Finnish and Russian with English subtitles.
Films start at 1:30pm. Refreshments for attendees are served at 1pm. Lunch (not included) is available in the Kaffestugan, which is open until 3pm every Saturday.
Two unlucky-in-love brothers, a veterinarian, a conceptual artist, and two goth 13-year-olds named Danni are just a few of the characters that makes up the ensemble of this charming Icelandic film about longing, love, and growing up.
Saturday, January 18th | 1:30 | Free; $5 suggested donation
89 minutes. In Icelandic with English subtitles.
Films start at 1:30pm. Refreshments for attendees are served at 1pm. Lunch (not included) is available in the Kaffestugan, which is open until 3pm every Saturday.
