Nordic International Film Festival Returns to Scandinavia House in Murray Hill, NYC, Oct 23–24

The Nordic International Film Festival, known as NIFF, is back for its 12th season with two days of screenings and panels at Scandinavia House in Murray Hill. The organizers describe it as the largest Nordic film festival outside Europe, with a stated mission of building a bridge between the Nordic film community and the international one.

The run-up begins on Thursday, October 22, with an invitation-only opening night at the Park Avenue Screening Room. It is open to filmmakers and All Access Pass holders, and the film is Norwegian director Mari Storstein's My First Love.

Public programming starts Friday, October 23, with a 9:30 a.m. panel and Q&A. Screenings follow through the day: documentary shorts, international shorts, the Swedish feature Drama Kings by Adi and Mak Omanovic, the documentary Death Diving with Asbørg by Cheyenne Arrington, a block of Nordic narrative shorts, and Madison McClintock's documentary Craftswoman: Weaving Life Whole, which ends the night at 9:30 p.m. The panels are sponsored by Cinetech and need no ticket.

Saturday, October 24 opens with a second panel at 9:30 a.m. The lineup includes On Silver Heels, an Estonian documentary by Georgius Misjura set around a women's ice hockey team, plus Nordic Shorts B and Documentary Shorts B. The red carpet starts at 5:15 p.m., and the awards ceremony runs from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Scandinavia House. A closing night party follows at Gottino in the West Village.

Last year's winners included Adorable Humans for Best Nordic Feature and Nakal for Best Documentary Feature. The festival says it was the first in the world to carbon-compensate for all filmmakers flying in to attend. General admission is $13, and students get 50 percent off with a code. Individual screening tickets and the All Access Pass are sold through Scandinavia House's online ticketing page.