FLAME & CITRON (MA15+) (Denmark)

A coincidental companion piece to another film appearing in the festival, Max Manus, the Danish noir FLAME AND CITRON from director Ole Christian Madsen (Prague) stars Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, After the Wedding) and Thure Lindhart (Into the Wind) as two resistance fighters (described by the Guardian as ‘a pair of patriotic loose cannons’) killing informants and Germans, in Nazi occupied Copenhagen. However when Flame is ordered to execute his girlfriend Ketty, an enigmatic Stockholm courier, he questions his orders and Ketty’s identity. In the struggle for freedom, it becomes increasingly unclear who is friend and who is foe. One of the biggest budget Danish films of all time and the biggest hit of the year, FLAME AND CITRON is based on true events and has screened to great acclaim at Toronto, Telluride and London International Film Festivals.

THE MAN WHO LOVED YNGVE (E18+) (Norway)

Starring a who’s who of young Norwegian cinema, THE MAN WHO LOVED YNGVE is a warm, humorous ensemble drama and emotional coming out for 17 year old protagonist Jarle. In Stavanger following the fall of the Berlin Wall, Jarle and his mates are set to launch the town's toughest punk band when the new boy in class, Ynvge, turns Jarle’s world upside down. A vibrant coming-of-age story, The Man Who Loved Yngve was Norway’s third most successful film of 2008, also nabbing numerous domestic awards for the film, director and editor. Based upon Tore Renberg's bestselling novel of the same name.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME (E18+) (Sweden)

ONCE IN A LIFETIME, from Sweden and directed by Susanne Bier (After the Wedding, Open Hearts, Brothers), is a riotous romantic comedy about Mona who is an assistant to handicapped David. When the song they secretly create is accepted for the Eurovision Song Contest their lives are drastically altered. With a killer soundtrack, Once in a Lifetime features cameo appearances by some of Sweden’s most adored singers.

TERRIBLY HAPPY (E18+) (Denmark)

Described by Variety as comparable to the work of the Coen Brothers and David Lynch is the Danish black comedy TERRIBLY HAPPY from Oscar® nominated director Henrik Ruben Genz. Winner of 7 of the 2009 Danish Robert Awards (Danish Oscars) & the Grand Prix Award at the Karlovey Vary International Film Festival, Terribly Happy follows Robert, a Copenhagen cop who takes the job of constable in a small town to help him bury the skeletons in his closet. However, village life and the macabre provincial order don’t quite fit into his plans... Terribly Happy is Denmark’s official entry for the 2010 Academy Awards® Best Foreign Language Film nomination and the English language remake is in the pipeline so get in quick and see the original!

MAX MANUS (E18+) (Norway)

Fresh from Toronto 09 is Norway’s biggest budget blockbuster of all time MAX MANUS, the true story of the resistance fighter of the same name, who in spite of being one of the most wanted men by the Gestapo in Norway, participated in some of the most daring attacks during WWII. Returning home to a Nazi occupied Norway, Max and his buddies Gregers Gram and Gunnar Sønsteby build up a resistance network, collecting weapons and carrying out sabotage attacks against important Nazi targets becoming increasingly more scheming. But the Gestapo investigator Siegfried Fehmer is working determinedly and patiently to stop Max, and soon Max’s networks starts to unravel.

THE HOME OF DARK BUTTERFLIES (E18+) (Finland)

Finland’s entry to the 2009 Academy Awards®, the sweet and touching drama THE HOME OF THE DARK BUTTERFLIES is based on the best-selling novel about fourteen year-old Juhani who, after a traumatic childhood experience, ends up in a Boy’s Home on a strange island with barely any other inhabitants. Adapted from Leena Lander's widely translated 1991 novel.

EVERLASTING MOMENTS (M) (Sweden)
From Sweden is the Globen Globe® nominated film EVERLASTING MOMENTS by Oscar® nominated director Jan Troell (The Emigrants), a touching film about a working-class woman in the hard days of early 1900s Sweden who wins a camera in the lottery, allowing her to see the world through new eyes. Herald by Variety as ‘artistically on a plane with or near the veteran filmmaker's best work...every second [is] an intense pleasure.’

SAUNA (M) (Finland)

From director AJ Annila (Bandidas), a thrilling horror film bathing in Finnish Sauna culture in the murky zone between Christianity and paganism. Year 1595. The long war is finally over. Brothers Knut and Erik, members of a commission marking the border between Finland and Russia, commit a terrible sin when they leave a young girl to die a horrible death. As the commission crosses an uncharted swamp, the girl returns to haunt them, her face pouring endless filth. The weary men find solace in a nameless village and find a sauna—a sauna where all sins are washed away. Seeking forgiveness, the brothers step in... A hit of the Toronto Film Festival in 08 and a further 30 festivals since, SAUNA approaches themes such as sin, repentance and atonement – themes deeply rooted in mythical Finnish gloominess – via a genre that has until now been almost non-existent in Finnish cinema.