Unlock the Full SEA-Nordic Festival Experience 🔓
Purchase a Festival Pass and immerse yourself in three days of critically acclaimed Nordic cinema!
Passholders enjoy exclusive access to all festival screenings at Majestic Bay Theatres, ensuring you've got a seat for every moment of movie magic. It's more than just a ticket—it's your passport to the best of Nordic cinema!
Can't make it to the full festival? Check out individual films below and select your preferred screenings.
Members Individual Ticket: $13
Non-Members Individual Ticket: $16
Festival Schedule
Friday, September 5th
7pm: Another Round (2020)
Four friends, all high school teachers, embark on an experiment – will maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their bloodstream markedly improve their lives?
Saturday, September 6th
10:30am: The Wedding of Palo (1934)
Navarana, a young Inuit woman, is the best in her settlement at skinning seals and dressing skins. And now she’s ready to choose a partner. Will Paolo or Samo win her heart (and her hand)?
12pm – 1pm Break
1pm: Shorts Program
| Life In Denmark (1972) - Director Jørgen Leth talks to nearly 100 Danes – including a cyclist, a minister of finance, and 13 single women — to convey a realistic impression of Denmark. Max By Chance (2004) - What can you learn about yourself by examining where you came from? Director Max Kestner tells his own story through generations of ancestors, including sailors, industrialists, and hippies. |
2pm – 2:30pm: Break
2:30pm: Flee (2021)
Amin Nawabi shares his story of fleeing his home country of Afghanistan for Denmark in this independent adult animated documentary film.
4pm – 5pm: Break
5pm: Babette's Feast (1987)
When French refugee and chef Babette arrives at the door of a pair of pious sisters, it’s all oatmeals and austere dishes. But when Babette comes into money, she prepares a sumptuous feast for her neighbors that brings a quiet revolution.
6:43pm – 7pm: Break
7pm: A Royal Affair (2012)
In 18th century Denmark, a young queen married to a mad king falls in love with the royal physician. Their love starts a revolution that changes a country forever.
Sunday, September 7th
11:30am: TBD
1:30 – 2pm Break
2pm: The Word (1955)
A farmer’s family is torn apart by faith, sanctity, and love. Will a sudden tragedy further destroy them — or bring them together?
4:06pm – 5pm: Break
5pm: The Man Who Thought Life (1969)
The mysterious Mr. Steinmetz has the ability to create things and beings by will alone. What happens when someone crosses him?
6:33pm – 7pm: Break
7pm: Melancholia (2011)
Some disasters can be expected on your wedding day, but a mysterious planet hurtling toward Earth? Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as the end of the world nears.
From the Curator:
"When asked to curate this year’s film festival, I used the keyword 'location' as a guiding principle for my selection. As a film historian and steward of film heritage, I wanted to include not only recent films but also to reflect on the richness of Danish film history.
Many of the selected films are set in a specific geographical location—most often Denmark—and use physical landscapes to reflect mental or emotional states. In Palo’s Wedding (1934), for example, the Arctic landscape serves as one of the film’s central attractions. The film, written by explorer and ethnographer Knud Rasmussen, offers a compelling portrayal of the customs and lifeways of Greenlandic communities. Though shaped by its time, Rasmussen’s approach conveys deep respect for the people he sought to represent, giving the film universal and enduring resonance.
In The Man Who Thought Life (1969), the concept of location shifts inward to a more psychological space. Its sleek, modernist aesthetic and Scandinavian design sensibility root the film in the 1960s, yet its surreal tone continues to captivate.
Some of the films, such as Ordet, Babette’s Feast, and A Royal Affair, use West Jutland or historical settings to explore enduring tensions between tradition and progress. Others, like Another Round, offer entertaining and charming insights into life in contemporary Denmark.
In curating this program, I have selected personal favorites—balancing celebrated masterpieces with overlooked cinematic gems from the archive. No matter which films you choose to see, I hope that you will be entertained, filled with unexpected experiences, and re-affirmed that life is worth living."
Meet the 2025 Guest Curator, Thomas Christensen
Thomas Christensen is Curator at the Danish Film Institute, a role he has held since 1998. He has an M.A. in film studies from the University of Copenhagen. He has been involved in a number of restorations both nationally and internationally. He served on the FIAF Technical Commission (2003–2015) and has since 2010 been on the Executive Committee of the Association of European Cinematheques (ACE). He has served as an advisor to numerous European film archives, including the Polish Film Institute (FINA), BFI and the Cinematheque Royale. He has recently been involved with a major digitization project, making all 450 surviving Danish silent films freely available on the website www.stumfilm.dk.
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