This wry, melancholic comedy from Aki Kaurismäki, a clear-eyed response to the current refugee crisis, follows two people searching for a place to call home. Displaced Syrian Khaled (Sherwan Haji) lands in Helsinki as a stowaway; meanwhile, middle-aged salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) leaves behind his wife and job and buys a conspicuously unprofitable seafood restaurant. After Khaled is denied asylum, he decides not to return to Aleppo–and the paths of the two men cross fortuitously. As deadpan as the best of the director’s work, and with a deep well of empathy for its down-but-not-out characters (many of them played by members of Kaurismäki’s ever-reliable stock company), The Other Side of Hope is a bittersweet tale of human kindness in the face of official indifference.
Saturday, September 15th | 1:30 | $5 suggested donation
100 minutes. In Finnish, Japanese, Arabic, Swedish 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.
Join us for our biggest event of the year – the Nordic Food Festival!
5th Annual Food Festival– NORDIC BITES
Enjoy tastes from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland while visiting Nordic vendors, listening to live music and taking part in other foodie fun! Don’t forget the return of everyone’s favorite Vikings! Visit their encampment, listen to their music and watch them fight to the “death.”
General Admission: $20 advance ($25 at door)/$15 SCC Members/ Kids 12 & under: $7
11am-3pm
PERFORMERS:
Luana Jøsvold with traditional Norwegian music on accordion
The SCC is glad to welcome Lo Dagerman, daughter of the famed Swedish author Stig Dagerman, back for a new book launch. Lo Dagerman will present her father’s last novel, Wedding Worries, set in his childhood village of Älvkarleby. It tells the story of the Palm family’s celebration of their young daughter Hildur’s marriage to the older village butcher. The novel begins on the morning of the wedding day with a mysterious knocking on the bride’s window, and ends twenty four hours later after a bacchanalian feast filled with unexpected drama.
Stig Dagerman drew on a memory from the farm where he grew up and the people who populated it. Lo will tell the story behind the novel, and introduce its characters (including one based on her grandfather!). She will use pictures from Dagerman’s Älvkarleby and hopefully also clips from the award-winning Swedish film “Brollopsbesvar” from 1964 with Jarl Kulle & Christina Schollin.
This time my goal was a different type of novel: uncontrolled, wildly colorful and loud – filled by an array of characters … real people who through the power of their authenticity did not lend themselves to simple psychological analysis. – Stig Dagerman on Wedding Worries
Saturday, October 6th | 7 pm | Free with registration
The Scandinavian Library and the SCC are proudly present Scenes from a Marriage as part of our Ingmar Bergman Centennial Retrospective.
Scenes from a Marriage chronicles the many years of love and turmoil that bind Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) through matrimony, infidelity, divorce, and subsequent partners. Shot in intense, intimate close-ups by master cinematographer Sven Nykvist and featuring flawless performances, Ingmar Bergman’s emotional X-ray reveals the intense joys and pains of a complex relationship.
Friday, October 19th | 7pm | Admission $8; $5 for SCC and Scandinavian Library Members
The Scandinavian Library and the SCC are proudly present Saraband as part of our Ingmar Bergman Centennial Retrospective.
Following Johan (Erland Josephson) and Marianne (Liv Ullmann) 30 years after the events of Scenes from a Marriage, this sequel finds the couple long since divorced and remarried. After Johan separates from his second wife, and Marianne loses her second husband, the ex-lovers try to reconnect. Meanwhile, Johan’s son, Henrik (Börje Ahlstedt), is having problems of his own with his daughter, Karin (Julia Dufvenius), a cellist whose career plans don’t match her father’s expectations.
Saturday, October 20th | 1:30pm | Admission $8; $5 for SCC and Scandinavian Library Members
Hear some of Boston’s best virtuosi on an intimate scale and join them in lively round-table discussions in comfortable, friendly, and eclectic surroundings.
Program:
Brahms Piano Quartet in C-minor, Op. 60
plus a surprise piece
Julia Cash, violin
Emily Rome, viola
Jolene Kessler, cello
Rebecca Plummer, piano
Sunday, October 21st | 3pm | Tickets $30 with discounts for seniors and students; 50% for SCC Members
SAGA Skylark once again welcomes storyteller Sarah Walker to help open our season with a dramatic evening of music and tales from Norse Mythology and the land of the Vikings. This is our third season working with Sarah, and our storytelling concerts are always among our most requested – you won’t want to miss this journey to the North Sea!
Saturday, October 27 at 7 pm; pre-concert talk at 6 pm
Admission $30 | $20 for SCC Members
About Skylark
Skylark, “the cream of the American crop” (BBC Radio 3), is a premier vocal ensemble of leading American vocal soloists, chamber musicians, and music educators. Skylark’s dramatic performances have been described as “gripping” (The Times of London), “exquisite” (Gramophone Magazine), and “awe-inspiring” (Boston Music Intelligencer). Skylark strives to set the standard for innovative and engaging programs that re-define the choral experience for audiences and singers alike. Artistic Director Matthew Guard’s well-researched and creative programs have been described as “engrossing” (WQXR New York) and “original, stimulating, and beautiful” (BBC Radio 3). Since its founding in 2011 in Atlanta and Boston, Skylark has branched out to perform its dynamic programs in museums, concert halls, and churches across the United States. Skylark made its international debut in March 2018 at St. John’s Smith Square, London, as part of the UK choir Tenebrae’s Holy Week Festival. The Times of London declared that Skylark was “the highlight” of the festival that included some of the UK’s leading choirs, including The Tallis Scholars, Polyphony, Tenebrae, and the Gabrieli Consort. Skylark’s most recent three recordings all reached the top 10 of Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart, earning praise for “imaginative” programming (Limelight Australia) and “singing of the highest standard for any area or any repertoire” (Classics Today). A not-for- profit entity with a passion for music education, Skylark performs educational outreach programs with high school and college students across the United States during its concert tours.
Saxophonist Juli Wood, who has been a fixture on the Chicago jazz scene for 25 years and has
appeared on stage at Finland’s Pori Jazz Festival and Storyville club in Helsinki, infuses traditional Finnish folk tunes with her unique, jazzy style.
The granddaughter of Finnish immigrants, Juli tapped into her heritage for her CD Synkkä Metsä (Dark Forest), which one reviewer called “An outstanding set with a compellingly beautiful cohesion.”
Juli studied jazz at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and has been mentored by jazz artists she admires. In addition to performing on sax, Juli is a vocalist and composer.
Come and enjoy the jazz stylings of Juli, described by various reviewers as a “feisty saxist,” “a gutsy tenor and baritone saxophonist,” and one who “sings with great heart” presented by Finlandia Foundation of Boston.
Sunday, October 28th | 3pm | Admission is free; donations accepted
The Performer of the Year is a program of the non-profit Finlandia Foundation National, the premier network of Finnish-American organizations
Swedish/American folk sextet Night Tree releases their sophomore album in the autumn of 2018 and will be touring throughout the autumn. Come and experience their new material – intricate arrangements and compositions, intimate songs and foot stomping, exhilarating tunes.
