Nordisk Panorama Film Festival Top Picks

An invite to Malmo to attend the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival was hard to resist, but as I was already travelling to Swedish Lapland for work, I had to attend this film festival digitally.

Nordisk Panorama is an annual film festival and industry event that focuses on showcasing and promoting short films and documentaries. The festival typically features a wide range of films from the Nordic regions, providing a platform for both emerging and established filmmakers to showcase their work.

This was a great opportunity to catch some films that we had previously missed at CPH:DOX festival back in March. Here, I take a look at some of our top picks from the festival.

A Silent Story

Why I decided to kick things off with such a powerful and devaststingly honest documentary I don’t know but I am still glad I took the time to watch this.

Director Anders Skovbjerg Jepsen confronts a childhood friend who sexually abused him when they were kids. It is years later and the friend agrees to meet with him as they discuss what happened. Only his abuser doesn’t seem to remember much of it and the victim is still wrestling with whether he wants to remember.

“There is a wide gap between taking care of him and hitting him” Anders’ partner responds after his first meeting with him where he is challenged by how to really feel.

This is powerful and heartbreaking.

Apolonia Apolonia

This documentary starts with this it’s lead subject, artist Apolonia Sokol, cutting her own fringe. It is stressful and you immediately wonder where director Lea Glob’s documentary is going to lead us and the journey we are taken on is an absorbing emotional one that we were engrossed in depsite it being almost 2 hours long.

It is no wonder this film has been selected as a potential Academy Award entry by Denmark as the audience gets totally immersed in the world of Apolonia, a talented artist trying to make it in the art world despite the challenges within her personal life and the cut-throat art industry – will she make it?

The Gullspång Miracle

We had already seen The Gullspång Miracle but we wanted to bring this film to people’s attention again as it is such a fantastic documentary and comes highly recommended for those that get the opportunity to see it.

Rap and Raindeer

Finnish director Pettteri Saario’s Rap and Raindeer documentary takes an interesting look a young Sami rapper called Mihkku Laiti, aka Yungmiqu. Mihkku is soon whisked away to the possibilities of fame and fortune after appearing on Finland’s Got Talent.

Should he follow in his parent’s traditional way of life of reindeer herding or does he follow this exciting new opportunity?

Mihkku has always loved music and has performed from a young age in front of his Sami communities. Blending his rapping style along with the stunning Finnish landscapes that surround him, Saario has put together a touching film about when ones dreams coming true have to be challenged by the realities. In particular I liked how this focused on a different angle in relation to the Sami people.