Skip to main content

Nordicana 2014

Nordicana - a live celebration of Scandinavian crime thriller fiction and film.

Whether you are a fan of crime fiction, danish pastries, Scandi dramas or even Swedish meatballs, there is something for everyone at this extraordinary event.

Nordicana is held in the UK up to two or three times a year, and is hosted by NordicNoir (which is a sub-label of Arrow Films). It was held at the Truman Brewery, which was a spacious warehouse and not at all cramped - even though the event received around 3000 visitors over the two days. Nordicana 2014 lived up to all of it's expectations.
As much as we love British and American crime drama, there’s just something special about a Scandinavian series. An extra something. Perhaps it’s the culture, perhaps it’s the moody landscapes, perhaps it’s the unrelenting darkness. Perhaps it’s even the language.
- http://thekillingtimestv.wordpress.com/

Nordicana had much to offer: premieres for new TV series and films, discussion panels with writers, actors and composers, and The Great British Bake-off style 'A Great Cinnamon Bun-Off'.

Swedish Meatballs!
The itinery was spilt evenly over the two days, however when only being there for the one day, it was ashame to miss out on the other's events. Being there only on the Saturday, (which saw a lot of late visitors due to travelling down to London on the morning) there was a great atmosphere of excitement, ease and friendliness.

The first event was The Bridge 2 - Episode 9, which was introduced by the Ambassador of Denmark. Having discovered Scandinavian Drama through the political drama 'Borgen', it was interesting to see other dramas that had been made by the same companies. 'The Bridge' is a crime drama focusing around the crimes that happen around the bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden. 
There was also an interview with lead actress Sofia Helin and Kim Bodnia by broadcaster Suzi Perry. After seeing this preview of the episode, I was immediatly taken with the series.

Next was a premiere of the film Pioneer by Erik Skjoldbjaerg. It's a thriller, and is based around the oil harvesting occurences that happened in the North Sea in Norway during the 1970's. The cinematography and grading of this film was quite beautiful, and the sound was truly remarkable. Parts of the film took place under water in compression tanks, and the sound effects at these times were nerve-shreddingly real. The script was also extremely believable when it came to the relationships between the characters, and the film is definetly an-edge-of-the-chair experience.

After the film was an interview with Aksel Hennie (the lead actor) by Mark Sanger (BAFTA nominated editor of Gravity). It was interesting to hear how the lead actor in the film felt about his part, and his experience of the filming process.

The last event was 'The Legacy - Episode 1' which was a new series from DR, and the producers of The Killing and Borgen.

Overall, this event was a brilliant day out, and I would highly recommend it to all Scandi lovers, and those who have yet to discover it.

References:

* http://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/nordicana-february-1-2-london.html

* http://www.culturecompass.co.uk/2014/02/04/nordicana-review-london-celebrates-scandi-tv-film-fashion-and-fiction/

* http://www.culttvtimes.com/content/event-nordicana-2014/

* http://nordicnoirblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/nordicana-2014-part-one/

* http://eurodrama.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/nordicana-2014-3/

* http://blog.swedenabroad.se/uk/2014/02/03/the-bridge-at-nordicana/

* http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/a-look-beyond-the-fantasy-politics-of-nordic-fetishism.23316948

http://www.supajam.com/review/show/Nordicana-festival

* http://nordicnoirblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/continuing-the-nordicana-2014-theme/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

STORYBOARDING: The Chess Player

A few months ago I was presented with the opportunity to create the storyboards for a student project at the University I had graduated from. Having always storyboarded my own projects, and used to drawing what I could see inside my own mind, I jumped at the chance to help visualise someone else's film. Everybody sees things differently. We imagine, we visualise in different ways. Maybe because our brains are wired differently, maybe because we all rely on different experiences or the things we've read. A wide shot to one person might be a close to another; or someone might prefer a high-angled birds eye view, whilst another a fish-eye lens effect. There are endless ways to visualise a story and we are all unique when it comes to this. So being tasked with aiding in the visualisation of someone else's film is by no means an easy feat. One must be able to see inside the director's mind, understand their vision and translate that into something that will reach and ...

TRAILER REVIEW: STAR WARS THE LAST JEDI

Finally, after what feels like decades of waiting, it is finally here... After the epicness of The Force Awakens , and then the Episode 4 prequel Rogue One, who knew that it was possible to get even more excited about Star Wars? Following on from Episode 7, The Last Jedi promises more adventure, more action, and could possibly (just like The Empire Strikes Back ) be overshadowed by the dark side of the force - hence the red typeface perhaps? There were so many unanswered questions left after the last film: Who are Rey's parents? Who is Snoke? Has Luke already turned to the dark side? Will Finn survive? What is Snoke planning next? Will Kylo Ren eventually turn to the light, and be reunited with his mother? Will Leia be reunited with Luke? Who knows? But the teaser trailer does offer enough sneak peeks to let the entire Star Wars fandom start speculating and anticipating the movie's plot.  Besides, we've all watched it a million times now, right? WARNING: TEAS...

DRAMA REVIEW: APPLE TREE YARD

Desirably jam-packed with delightful intrigue and unnerving suspense, Apple Tree Yard combines the best of a psychological thriller, a heartfelt romance and the worst of human nature. MILD SPOILERS AHEAD! Although many viewers may find steamy encounters in secret closets a little much for their Sunday night viewing, Apple Tree Yard does deliver much more of a plot-line than a couple of raunchy scenes that one would generally expect to hold little narrative. However, this is not the case. Thankfully the series, based on the novel of the same name by Louise Doughty,  provides its viewers with a multi-layered plot which digs deeper and deeper until it seems practically impossible to uncover any more dark and troubling secrets. This is no ordinary love affair; b it by bit the plot twists and turns as a one-off encounter in the heat of the moment evolves into a nerve-wrecking scramble to hide the truth, therefore  unraveling  consequences of a horrifying nature. ...