Meet the New Nordic Voices
At the Göteborg Film Festival, participants in the pan Nordic NORD project will give us an insight into the young Nordic storytelling.
The Nordic Film Schools educate storytellers of tomorrow. And as a result, they each bear a significant responsibility in what kinds of films and series the future holds for us. The NORD project was hatched from an idea of taking on this responsibility by facilitating artistic and cultural cross-country networks, unearthing all that makes Nordic narratives special.
Supported by:
The visionary project launched in 2021 at the National Film School of Denmark. Thanks to generous support from A.P Moller Foundation, students from The Norwegian Film School, Stockholm University of the Arts, and the National Film School of Denmark were given a unique opportunity to tap into new creative communities across the Nordic borders.
This year’s Göteborg Film Festival marks a project peak, as students from each school present the work-in-progress projects they have been collaborating on throughout NORD’s life span to an audience of industry stakeholders.
By letting an entire generation of Nordic filmmakers get to know each other creatively, culturally and personally, students have been given the resources needed to create works of a lasting cultural footprint.
Delve into each project below and learn more about the NORD students.
The Big Noise
Synopsis:
The haunting story of a witch trial in 1670s Stockholm, inspired by real events and people, depicting how a complicated truth can be drowned out by noise. Told from seven different perspectives, in seven chapters, by seven different Nordic director talents.
Participants:
August Holler Colding, The Norwegian Film School, Producer
Ingvild Nøstberg Dahlgren, The Norwegian Film School, Director
Gina Kippenbroeck, The National Film School of Denmark, Director
Malthe Kalbakk Elgaard, The National Film School of Denmark, Director
Joaquim Berglund, The National Film School of Denmark, Director
Solin Bakircioglu, SKH, Director
Emelia Hansson, SKH, Director
Tarjei Sandvik Moe, The Norwegian Film School, Writer
Mone Frogg Christiansen, The National Film School of Denmark, Director
Halima’s Wedding
Synopsis
Nadine (25) works as a translator but struggles to put her own feelings into words. When she is invited to her old friend Halima’s wedding Nadine is confronted with old dreams about how their friendship could have been something more. Nadine is determined to share her feelings with her friend. But as she sits at the table for not-so-close friends at the wedding she starts to doubt how welcome she really is.
Participants:
Arthur Delay, The National Film School of Denmark, Writer
Camilla Pavlikova Sandland, The Norwegian Film School, Writer
Mikkel Smidt, The National Film School of Denmark, Producer
Oline Nordentoft Andersen, The Norwegian Film School, Producer
Yousra Mosad Said, SKH, Director
BECKA
Synopsis:
A chaotic teachers' Christmas party unfolds, beginning with the pre-party at the office, followed by the principal's misguided team-building exercises and a formal dinner with questionable entertainment. The night spirals into excessive drinking, liberating dance moves, embarrassing confessions, cocaine, fights, and aggressively performed love ballads. The only thing missing is a Christmas miracle.
Participants:
Julie Macus, The Norwegian Film School, Writer
Rasmus Sandager, The Norwegian Film School, Director
Surviving the Holidays
Synopsis:
After the shocking assassination of Norway’s climate minister, Embla and her radical activist girlfriend Julia join her wealthy family at their remote cabin for Christmas. When a snowstorm traps them inside, simmering tensions explode, forcing the family to confront buried conflicts, generational divides, and the looming climate crisis in this darkly comedic chamber drama.
Participants:
Jens Dahle-Granli, The Norwegian Film School, Producer
Untitled
Synopsis:
A strange light appears in the night sky, slowly traveling across the horizon towards a small Nordic town, promising annihilation by sunrise. As the town drifts into a liminal state, stories unfold during the final hours of desperation and acceptance - from first loves in frenzied evacuations and final goodbyes at silent dinner tables to hedonistic end-of-the-world sex parties.
These interweaving stories are told through the distinct voices of a new generation of Nordic filmmakers. Blending styles and genres, this anthology explores their thoughts on creating in an age of perpetual destruction, and the dissonance of growing up in a world racing towards its own end.
We all face death alone - but how do we spend our final hours when tomorrow never comes?
Participants:
Nellie Lexfors, SKH, Director
Maja Palm, SKH, Screenwriter
Adam Cronstedt, SKH, Director
Glow Up Express
Synopsis
A company has developed a groundbreaking procedure that allows people to easily change anything about their bodies - limited only by imagination. To promote it, the company selects ten individuals desperate for transformation and sends them on a PR tour across Scandinavia, showcasing their "before" selves and promising radical "after" results.
Prepare for an absurd sci-fi mini-series about all our self-hatred and despair, our longing for life changes but only know how to use accessible quick fixes.
Participants:
Astrid Söderberg, The National Film School of Denmark, director
Laura Plummer, The National Film School of Denmark, producer
Ulrikke Xenia Sandby, The National Film School of Denmark, producer
Nils Bolin, SKH, producer
Conrad Christian Helgers, The National Film School of Denmark, Writer
Dagne Eline Omland, The Norwegian Film School, Writer
Unadopted
Synopsis
What if you could legally cut ties with the people who raised you? Unadopted is a sharp, comedic drama about an adoptee who’s ready to throw in the towel on her less-than-perfect family. Determined to annul her adoption, she takes her parents and siblings to court, unraveling years of family drama, secrets, and hilariously awkward moments along the way. It’s a rollercoaster of love, resentment, and the ultimate question: can you ever really break up with your family?
Participants:
Stine Likodelle, The National Film School of Denmark, Writer
Mirjam Sveinbörg Thorkelsdottir, The Norwegian Film School, Director
Viktor Juholt, SKH, Producer
Jordan
Synopsis:
Jordan, a 17-year-old generational football talent is one week away from his new life as a professional player. The week prior, one last tournament with his boyhood club awaits. Here he encounters
new, eventful events and emotions that make him question his future.
Participants:
Amir Halim, SKH, producer
Atchy Konesh, The Norwegian Film School, writer/director
The Misogynist
Synopsis:
Malin is a middle-aged woman who hates other women, especially her stipper-working neighbor Dixie. When Dixie goes missing, leaving the body of her hot boyfriend Mark Lee Swanson behind, Malin becomes obsessed with finding and framing Dixie for the murder. A thriller-comedy-series about internalized misogyny, obsession and female competition.
Participants:
Nawa Al-ani, The National Film School of Denmark, producer
Ane Vennize Andersen, The National Film School of Denmark, producer
Hanna Rosén, SKH, screenwriter
Anna Furnemo, SKH, producer
ABOUT NORD - New Nordic Voices
Nord is an ambitious collaboration project between film schools in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, supported by the A.P. Moller Foundation. The collaboration was initiated in the spring of 2022 by the National Film School of Denmark, and has run over a three-year development period until January 2025, with the clear expectation of creating a lasting collaboration across the three film schools and eventually with the other film schools in the rest of the Nordic region.
The project has aimed to promote new, strong Nordic storytellers and thus consists of meetings between students from the three schools' screenwriting, production and directing programs. Each meeting consists of teaching and development workshops as well as a continuous seminar under the title 'Nordic Think Tank,' where a wide range of invited speakers from different fields such as literature, art, film, research and politics each time contribute to sharpen the discussion and understanding of Nordic culture and contemporary life.
The project has consisted of the following:
NORD I: Workshop and Nordic Think Tank I: Copenhagen, fall 2022
NORD II: Workshop and Nordic Think Tank II: Lillehammer, spring 2023
NORD III: Workshop and Nordic Think Tank III: Stockholm, fall 2023
NORD IIII: Concept development: Copenhagen, spring 2024
NORD IIIII: Presentation, Göteborg Film Festival, 2025
Read our interview with three students from each school here.
Read our interview with teachers from the National Film School of Denmark, and the Norwegian Film School here.
