Festival Nordic Days 2018 in Prague

The main focus of the 9th year of the festival will be taboo.

Everywhere in the world, there are topics that are not discussed in public. And although the Scandinavian countries are now considered to be liberal and modern, it has not always been so – and even in the present, they are not completely taboo-free. Many things have so far been a taboo: from sexuality and oppression of the original inhabitants to “inappropriate“ topics in childrens‘ literature. The 9th year of Nordic Days will provide a space for discussions of the works of art that are regarded as controversial or deal with topics that are not openly discussed in public.

During the festival, two discussions will take place: At first on Thursday the 25th of October, Pernilla Stalfelt, the author of The Death Book, is going to discuss death in the childrens‘ literature along with Czech author Petra Soukupová (Who killed Snížek?). And the week after, on the 1st of November, a Finnish writer Jussi Valtonen (Finlandia prize 2014) and the author of They Know Not What They Do, is going to show us the “other side of society“ – this time in Gulliver airship in DOX. Along with a Czech writer Markéta Baňková, the author of Magpie in a land of entropy and The Triviality.

You can also look forward to the theatre evening (The Danish civil war 2018 – 2024) in Na Zábradlí Theatre, and three film projections – because we are not going to focus just on the book-related taboo. The first film is Something must break, a story of a Swedish androgynous boy and his intimate life. The second one is from Iceland – The Children, a rather brutal story dealing with topics such as bullying, schizophrenia or criminality. The last one is Sensuela, a Finnish film from the 1970’s, whose heroine is a beautiful Sami girl that sort of fell into bad ways…

Apart from Prague, the festival – in a curtailed version – takes place also in Brno (more information here), and Jussi Valtonen is going to visit Bratislava on the 29th of October.

Festival’s programme in Prague:

23rd Oct 7 PM       Film screening: Something must break (Evald Cinema)
25th Oct 7 PM       Taboo in childrens’ literature: Pernilla Stalfelt and Petra Soukupová (Cafe Elektric)
30th Oct 7 PM       Film screening: The Children (Evald Cinema)
31st Oct 7 PM        Film screening: Sensuela (Evald Cinema)
1st Nov 5 PM         Book signing: Jussi Valtonen (Palace of Books NeoLuxor)
1st Nov 7 PM         Human in a free(domless) world: Jussi Valtonen and Markéta Baňková (DOX – Gulliver)
3rd Nov 7 PM       The theatre evening: The Danish Civil War 2018–2024 (Na zábradlí Theatre) CHANGE OF DATE!

Events in Nordic languages:

Something must break (Sweden, 2014, 81 minutes)

A controversial Swedish film about an androgynous boy Sebastian and his search for love and compassion. Crude, but poetic nevertheless.

In Swedish with Czech subtitles

Entrance fee 120 CZK
Ticket reservation at www.evald.cz

Taboo in childrens’ literature: Pernilla Stalfelt and Petra Soukupová

How should we talk about death in front of our children? Two authors, a Czech and a Swedish one, who don’t believe that we should lower to lying. What are other of their opinions regarding this delicate topic?

In Swedish and Czech

Admission free

The Children (Iceland, 2006, 93 minutes)

A black and white drama about the relationships of parents and their children. The whole movie is dealing with such topics as bullying, schizophrenia or criminality in Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.

In Icelandic with Czech subtitles

Entrance fee 120 CZK
Ticket reservation at www.evald.cz

Sensuela (Finland, 1973, 105 minutes)

A story of a Sami girl named Laila and her relationship with a German pilot whom she saves after a plane crash. Explicitly erotic: The first movie in the Finnish history that was marked as unsuitable for people below 18 years of age.

In Finnish with Czech subtitles

Entrance fee 120 CZK
Ticket reservation at www.evald.cz

Human in a free(domless) world: Jussi Valtonen and Markéta Baňková

How do the society, the origins and family relationships shape one’s character? Is our will truly free? Can we possibly anticipate our actions? And what about the modern technologies in our lives? What’s their purpose? These and more questions discussed with Jussi Valtonen and Markéta Baňková.

In Finnish and Czech

Entrance fee 60 CZK (Concessions 40 CZK)
Due to limited seating capacity booking at rezervace@dox.cz is essential.

The festival is organised by the Scandinavian House in cooperation with the Evald Cinema, the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Na Zábradlí theatre, Cafe Electric and Nordic Embassies in the Czech republic, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague City Hall and FILI literary agency.