About the West Nordic Film Festival
Organized in partnership with Scandinavia House, the inaugural West Nordic Film Festival presents recent feature-length and short films from Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.
"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."
—WNFF Guest Curator Birgir Thor Møller
About the Films
Experience the evolving world of West Nordic cinema in Seattle, where prizewinning directors and rising filmmakers bring their bold, diverse stories to the big screen. Festival Curator Birgir Thor Møller's hand-picked lineup features a variety of acclaimed features and shorts, set against the landscapes of one of the most breathtaking regions in the world.
Friday, March 14 - Opening Night
Saturday, March 15 - All Day
"The selection of films at West Nordic [Film Festival] 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."
—WNFF Guest Curator Birgir Thor Møller
Schedule
Friday, March 14, 7:00-9:00pm
SOLITUDE
Iceland | 2023
dir. Ninna Pálmadóttir
75 minutes
Learn More: Letterboxd | IMDB
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Following an order from the Icelandic government, farmer Gunnar is forced to sell his farm and move to the capital. Here he settles into a simple apartment, hangs a picture of his favorite horse on the wall, and struggles to find a foothold in a life marked by loneliness and homesickness. But in the apartment next door lives a ten-year-old boy who also doesn't have many friends. What starts as chance encounters soon develops into an unexpected and heartwarming friendship.
OMMAN / GRANDMOTHER
Faroe Islands | 2019
dir. Julia í Kálvalíð
12 minutes
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Two brothers head up to the mountains to pick up their alcoholic grandmother who has gone on another drinking spree in her tent. Upon arrival, they realise that the grandmother has drunk herself to death. Ahead of them lies a disturbing journey home. Omman is directed by the Faroese director Julia í Kálvalíð, who has a wonderful talent for serving tragicomic stories about death, combining dark Nordic humor with sparks of color.
ENTROPY
Greenland | 2023
dir. Inuk Jørgensen
10 minutes
Learn More: Letterboxd | IMDB
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Inuk Jørgensens short film, the poetic and beautifully shot documentary Entropy, is an ode to Greenlandic mythologies and myths and at the same time deeply concerned about the nature we are all losing.
Saturday, March 15, 10:20am - 12:00pm
MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER / BIRU UNJÁRGA
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIFF
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIFF
Sápmi | 2024
dir. Egil Pedersen
78 minutes
Learn More: Letterboxd | IMDB
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In Partnership With
Self-confident Sami teen Elvira is convinced that her mother conceived her at a Danish fertility clinic, often daydreaming about her father and imagining him as the charismatic movie star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (who plays himself). Her world is turned upside down, however, when her real biological father unexpectedly enters her life.
Egil Pedersen addresses the often-delicate identity issues of teenage life with both empathy and warm irony in a coming of age film that, with its sharp dialogue and narrative style, is both entertaining, heartwarming and thought-provoking.
THE LAST STRAW / LIÐ VIÐ LIÐ
Faroe Islands | 2023
dir. Andrias Høgenni
15 minutes
Learn More: IMDB
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Ivar is stranded on a mountainous country road on the Faroe Islands and the only person he can ask for help is his estranged brother. This is a powerful, recognizable and tightknit drama, framed in simple and beautiful shots and served with an understated and low-key ironic humor by the Faroese director Andrias Høgenni.
EINMIN
Faroe Islands | 2024
dir. Rammatik (Rannvá Káradóttir & Marianna Mørkøre)
7 minutes
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Set in the aftermath of a party, the experimental dance film Einmin revolves around the solitary dancer, dressed in vibrant reds, as she navigates a deserted space. The camera traces her fluid, dynamic movements which are imbued with a subtle joy, while the atmospheric soundscape heightens the sense of the dancer's presence. Filmed in one continuous take, Einmin is given a raw immediate quality, allowing the audience to fully engage with the dancer's physical and emotional experience.
Saturday, March 15, 1:00pm - 2:45pm
WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS / LJÓBROT
Iceland | 2024
dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson
82 minutes
Learn More: Letterboxd | IMDB
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A young woman loses her boyfriend in a terrible accident but must bear the grief alone, as their relationship was a closely guarded secret within their small group of friends. This captivating and visually stunning film unfolds over the course of a single summer day. Despite its brief 82-minute runtime, it explores a powerful spectrum of emotions—from fear, despair, and sadness to happiness and hope—all conveyed through director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s signature blend of humor, warmth, and raw poetry in an exceptionally well-framed cinematic experience.
Since its premiere at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, 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
Iceland | 2024
dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson
20 minutes
Learn More: Letterboxd | IMDB
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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, emphasizing the poetic visual style, known from all of Rúnar Rúnarsson’s films. And as his feature films, his short film O has done exceptionally well at festivals around the world since it premiered at Venice International Film Festival 2024 (La Biennale di Venezia).
Saturday, March 15, 3:15 - 5:15pm
THE BLACK ANGEL / INNGILI QERNERTOQ
Greenland | 2024
dir. Malik Kleist
105 minutes
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Greenlandic director Malik Kleist is known for the horror films Shadows in the Mountains (2011: Qaqqat Alanngui) and The Edge of the Shadow (2022: Alanngut Killinganni), both of which were massive box office hits in Nuuk. Now, he has done it again—blending elements of Greenlandic myths with American genre filmmaking. This time, however, he takes a different stylistic approach to horror, crafting a low-budget film that diverges from its predecessors.
Two couples have mysteriously disappeared in the mountains near Nuuk. The only clues left behind are their private video recordings, which the police have recovered. As the footage unfolds, what begins as a joyful and carefree camping trip through breathtaking landscapes soon descends into a terrifying nightmare.
Something lurks in the mountains. They are not alone—and there is no help to be found.
Inspired by the cult classic The Blair Witch Project and its use of found footage, Kleist delivers a film where an authentic, documentary-style collection of personal and often humorous moments gradually transforms into a chilling horror story—set deep in the mountains, where nature is not only beautiful but also violent and unforgiving.
12 MINUTES
Greenland | 2024
dir. Christoffer Rizvanovic Stenbakken
13 minutes
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Shot in black and white, the Greenlandic director Christoffer R. Stenbakken’s short film tells the story about Thomas and his wife Anette, who wake up one night to discover that their son, a drug addict, has broken into their house. Anette wants to let the son go, but Thomas wants to wait for the police to take him away. Thomas can’t live with his son anymore, but can he live without him?
Birgir Thor Møller, 2025 West Nordic Film Festival 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.
