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

Post a Comment

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

DRAMA REVIEW: STRANGER THINGS (S1)

If you haven't heard of ' Stranger Things' by now you must have been in the Upside Down with no wifi signal to tune into Netflix. One year ago the world was plunged into an epic 80's sci-fi thriller world where Dungeons and Dragons, VHS cassettes and BMX bikes were all the rage, and now, with the eruption of Season 2 hitting our tv and mobile screens, it seems fitting to look back on where this journey began... Since the late 1890's the imaginations of people all around the globe have been fascinated by the possibility of life on other planets and visitors from outer space. Thanks to the great early science-fiction authors such as H.G. Wells and John Wyndham, the books ' War of the Worlds ' and ' The Crysalids ' taught us that the scientifically impossible could be found perhaps not only amongst the stars, but amongst ourselves. From then on humanity looked upwards, wondering, researching, hypothesising about things that should be left untouched....
Post a Comment
Read more