Scandinavian film and TV: April 2024

In this month’s column, I’m diving into the 96th Academy Awards. Held on the 10th of March it is arguably the most important event of the awards season. Needless to say, my focus will be on how Scandinavian cinema fared.

Sadly this year’s awards were not billed to be a great year for Scandinavian cinema, with none of the countries being nominated in the best International Feature Film category. However, it is worth adding that this category, which has recently been renamed from Best Foreign Language Film, no longer has to be in a foreign language – just produced outside the US – making it harder for foreign language films to compete. And, in this year’s awards, it was indeed won by an English-language film.

In Denmark, all hopes were pinned on the short film Ridder Lykke (Knight of Fortune), nominated in the Live Action Short Film category (sadly it was not successful). Directed by Lasse Lyskjær Noer, the storyline centres around the loss of a loved one, the grief, the risk of yellow skin, and a coffin, being all too much for the main character of the film, Karl, to face. However, a chance encounter with a stranger helps him face his pain. The film is 25 minutes long and is produced by Jalabert Production.

Elsewhere there was success for Sweden as the Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson picked up his second Oscar for his score on Oppenheimer, the biggest winner at the Academy Awards. His Academy Award win for Best Original Score adds to the recognition the 39-year-old composer has got for his work on Oppenheimer, having also won a Grammy, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice and Society of Composers & Lyricists awards for the score on the high-profile film.

Staying on the tune of the festivals and awards season, a key date for April is the announcement of the selection for the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, one of the best-known and high-profile film festival awards outside the Academy Awards. With many Scandinavian films slated for inclusion, you are sure to read more about this in next month’s column.

Anders Lorenzen is a Danish blogger and film and TV enthusiast living in London.