Nordic Film Fest in Austin, Texas

The American-Scandinavian Foundation Texas Associates (ASFTA) announces the seventh annual Nordic Film Fest to be held on Saturday, February 27th at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum’s Spirit of Texas Theater. The films will show from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm. An after-party will follow featuring the House of Songs, an innovative collaboration between leading Danish and Austin songwriters and musicians.

While the Nordic countries are small in size, their contributions to film captivate audiences around the world with works from filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman to Lars von Trier. The Austin festival is part of a network of Nordic Film Fests spanning across the U.S. that provides North American audiences a chance to enjoy the next generation of Scandinavian filmmakers. The festival will include feature-length films like Sweden’s Everlasting Moments and Denmark’s Flame and Citron, as well as a variety of short films from Iceland and Finland.

“We’re glad to highlight Nordic works specifically at this festival,” says Nikolas White, ASFTA President. “In our seventh year we’ve become the venue in the region for film fans, bloggers, and critics to see the best films coming out of the Nordic countries. In addition we will wrap up the evening with a great after-party and concert featuring the House of Songs, Austin’s artist-in-residence project for Danish singer-songwriters.”

Mats Widbom, Cultural Counselor at the Swedish Embassy in Washington D.C., says “I am very pleased to see how the Austin Nordic Film Fest is bringing the best of Swedish and Nordic Film to Texas, this year with Sweden’s award-winning film Everlasting Moments directed by Jan Troell.”

The American-Scandinavian Foundation Texas Associates, based in Austin, acts as a local resource for cultural, social, and business connections for people with ties to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland. The Foundation engages the Austin community through a monthly e-newsletter, happy hour events, the annual film festival, a Nordic Tenors concert, and other events of interest to Austin’s Scandinavian population.

The 2010 Austin Nordic Film Fest is produced with sponsorships from the American-Scandinavian Foundation ( www.amscan.org ), Bache-Gabrielsen Cognac ( www.bache-gabrielsen.com/usa ), the Danish Embassy, the Swedish Embassy, the University of Texas Germanic Studies Department, and the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, and in partnership with the Swedish Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, Icelandic Film Centre, Danish Film Institute, and IFC Films.

For more information, go to www.nordicfilmfest.com and click Austin. Ticket prices range from $10-$16 depending on the number of films participants choose to view. Ticket purchases are cash only and will be sold at the theater entrance on the day of the festival. Details about the after-party will be announced in the coming weeks. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is located at 1800 N. Congress Avenue at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in downtown Austin, Texas.

The festival schedule runs as follows:

Saturday, February 27

3:00 pm: First set of shorts:

The Lake (Finland)

The Magician (Iceland)

3:45 pm: First Feature:

Flame & Citron (Denmark)

6:00 pm – Break (with shorts):

Family Reunion (Iceland)

Hanasaari A (Finland)

6:45 pm – Second set of shorts:

Misty Mountain (Iceland)

Harvest Time (Finland)

7:45 pm – Second Feature:

Everlasting Moments (Sweden)

10:15 pm – After-Party and Concert with House of Songs

For more information, contact Emily Erickson at (512) 431-5967 or by email.  Visit www.nordicfilmfest.com and click Austin.

www.nordicfilmfest.com is a collaboration between the Nordic Film Fests in the U.S. including Seattle, Austin, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Denver.

Source: Nordic Film Fest