You wouldn’t believe it but the Nordic (Northern European countries or the North Atlantic like Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the autonomous territories of Faroe Islands, Greenland and the autonomous region of Atland) film industry is such a gigantic filmmaking region in the world.
Meanwhile, Norway, Denmark and Sweden are often referred to as Scandinavian countries as well.
I again witnessed this during the entire run of the 27th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival or (BIFAN) in Bucheon City in South Korea recently.
Of course, we are familiar with the Swedish production of “Triangle of Sadness” by director Ruben Ostlund which won the 2022 Palme de ‘Or Best Film at the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival in France. It’s a big-budget production to the tune of $15M, more or less.
Because of its magnitude and influence, “Triangle of Sadness” was nominated at the 2023 (95th) Oscars for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture.
Swedish and Danish films—and filmmaking nations coming across Nordic and Scandinavian—have been regarded as world-class and many of its celebrities like Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullman (Norwegian), Dolph Lundgren, Viggo Mortensen, Mads Mikkelson, Alicia Vikander, Ingmar Bergman, among other living legends are taking Hollywood by storm. The late Bibi Andersson and Max von Sydow, meanwhile, were also influential in Hollywood and world cinema.
In 2016, it was Mads Mikkelsen — a Danish award-winning actor who was last seen in Harrison Ford-starrer “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (2023) as Jurgen Voller — who hand in the Palme d’Or Best Actress Award to Filipino actress Jaclyn Jose in Brillante Ma. Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa", at the Cannes Film Festival.
Filipino film artists have pivoted Nordic and Scandinavian film industries such as actress Mercedes Cabral in 2019 when she was paired with internationally renowned and award-winning Danish actor Mikkel Boe Foolsgaard in “Rosita,” a foray into a Filipinas mail-order-bride who was the object of a love triangle between a Danish father and son.
Filipino thespian Dolly de Leon was, of course, one of the major cast members of “Triangle of Sadness” and had earned her the coveted Golden Globe Best Supporting nomination and other citations in 2023. The Golden Globe Award is an annual recognition given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to deserving film and television talents.
Out-of-Hollywood Nordic and Scandinavian film projects, interestingly, are very much alive and they are colossal.
I happened to get acquainted again with them in BIFAN.
At the Nordic Genre Invasion of the 2023 Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF), a component of BIFAN’s B.I.G. (Bucheon Industry Gathering), Finnish and Norwegian filmmakers were standing tall, literally and figuratively.
Nordic Genre Invasion, which has maintained ties with the NAFF since 2015, according to the NAFF Book in 2023, is a non-profit platform for film marketing, distribution and collaboration from Northern European genre film producers.
Wow, man!
During the pitches of Nordic filmmakers at B.I.G. I was amazed by their giant productions. Nordic filmmakers, namely directors Pal Oie, Frederik S. Hana and Saara Saarela, producers Mark Lwoff, Misha Jaari, Einar Loftesnes, Julia Joner and John Einar Hagen, were there to present and attract collaborators, marketers, investors, producers, press, distributors and other stakeholders by the bigness of their projects. They were as enormous as Marvel Studios, Universal, 20th Century Fox or Fox or New Line etc. movies.
Although they were projects-in-development, one could glean on their global impact. The trailers were impressive.
It’s not only because of the Nordic’s creativity and resourcefulness but their shared film vision to improve the quality of foreign productions to be at par with Hollywood. Definitely, Nordic and Scandinavian productions could match any major film companies in the world.
Amid the grand productions, advocacies resonate in their works in progress. Oie’s “Highway of Death” and “Kraken” might be horror and thrill but are mostly environmental in scope. The former deals with the destruction of forests to give way to road construction where spiritual forces are believed to avenge against men while the latter tackles experimental sonar testing at a Sognefjord salmon farm, a mysterious monster is awakened, putting the community in danger and triggering a fight for survival.
Saarela’s “Mourning Time” forays into ghosting while Hana’s “Planet,” a sci-fi on man’s encounter with the unknowns.
Obviously, Nordic Invasion challenges the hegemonic order and control of Hollywood over other competing big filmmaking capitals.
Why can’t we Filipinos do the same with the talented filmmakers the country has ever produced?
We might not have the technology but we have so much creativity and this could augur the dominance of indie filmmakers with unconventional and daring subjects, censors and myopia should welcome and open possibilities.
We have exceptional directors like Brillante, Lav Diaz, Joel Lamangan, Chito Roño, Raya Martin, Pepe Diokno, Laurice Guillen, Tikoy Aguiluz, and the new crop of outstanding Filipino filmmakers to create world cinema in its highest ideals.
Shorts: The Katipunan ng mga Artista ng Pelikulang Pilipino at Telebisyon (KAPPT) or Actors Guild led by its president Imelda Papin was sworn in by no less than the president of the land, Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. at Malacanang recently. Papin was around together with her fellow officers Rhene Imperial, Hero Bautista, Jeffrey Santos, Lynn Madrigal, Gerry Roman, Rez Cortez, Josie Shoemaker, etc … It takes a Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival spirit to ask questions about the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding war on drugs in the documentary film of Che Andes titled “Maria” and a possible Red-tagging on Dustin Celestino’s “Ang Duyan ng Magiting” which features Dolly de Leon, among other art works of filmmakers about the nature and causes of their films to the liberation of the Filipinos … GMA Network and TAPE’s “Eat Bulaga” won on the intellectual property rights of the title of the noontime show against the case filed Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon over copyright issues…Azenith Briones said the burying of hatchet between Lorna Tolentino and Deborah Sun instigated by her was an accident because she was just with Deborah in looking for Lito Lapid on the set of “Batang Quiapo” in Manila where Lorna was. “I took the initiative to reconcile Lorna and Deborah who are both my friends,” said Azenith…Sex spot Natalie Hart got married to a non-showbiz boyfriend in Australia recently…Tirso Cruz III is open to doing Cinemalaya films as he has done before.