With a superb lineup set to warm the hearts and minds of cinemagoers this winter, the 2026 Hurtigruten Nordic Film Festival (formerly the Scandinavian Film Festival) returns to Palace, Palace Nova and Luna Palace Cinemas from July until August. Featuring the best new cinema from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, this year’s formidable line-up showcases cinematic legends, breathtaking landscapes and the unique storytelling and profound cultural insights that has earned Nordic cinema a distinct place in the film world.
Opening the festival is the powerful Icelandic drama ÁRRU from debut director Elle Sofe Sara, that follows a family of Sàmi reindeer herders whose community and way of life is threatened by a proposed mining project. Weaving together grounded drama with bursts of exquisite traditional song (joik) and movement, the film draws on cultural expression to explore a breathtakingly genuine connection to the environment.
In a festival exclusive, the highly anticipated FJORD, direct from winning the Palme d’Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, screens as the Festival Centrepiece. Shot on the picturesque western coast of Norway, the film stars Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as a Romanian-Norwegian conservative couple facing scrutiny after moving to the wife’s progressive remote Norwegian hometown.
Icelandic comedy/drama THE LOVE THAT REMAINS (Ástin sem eftir er) from director Hlynur Pálmason (A White, White Day, Godland) is this year’s Special Presentation. This brilliant and bittersweet film tenderly captures a year in the life of a family of five, as the parents navigate their separation, exploring love, family and shared memories.
Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value, Fjord) delivers another standout performance in Special Presentation BUTTERFLY, an intriguing drama about a pair of estranged sisters who reunite after their mother’s sudden passing. The sisters travel to the Canary Islands, where they grew up at a resort, after their mother’s mysterious death at an esoteric retreat in the mountains.
Closing the festival is the 60th anniversary screening of Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece PERSONA. Liv Ullmann, in the first of many iconic collaborations with the director, plays a screen actress who has fallen into an unexplained silence, while Bibi Andersson is captivating as the talkative young nurse assigned to her care in a secluded island retreat.
For more festival information and tickets visit: https://nordicfilmfestival.com.au/
One reply on “2026 Nordic Film Festival”
I would love to see “The Battle of Oslo” with my wife Gina Hatten. Thanks.