Festival Nordic Days 2018 in Brno

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 The 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 often openly discussed in public.

During the 9th year, two discussions are going to take place. The first one on the 24th of October with Pernilla Stalfelt, the Swedish author of The Death Book, and Petra Soukupová, the Czech author of Who killed Snížek, as the main focus is death in the childrens’ literature. The second one almost a week later, on Tuesday the 30th of October with Finnish writer Jussi Valtonen, who wrote They Not Know What They Do, a book showing “the other side” of nowadays society. You can also look forward to the screening of a Swedish movie Something Must Break, showing the life of an androgynous adolescent boy Sebastian, and Karolína Stehlíková’s speech on sex education in Scandinavia, focused on documentary programmes showing sexuality and eroticism in a rather untypical way.

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

Festival’s programme in Brno:

24th Oct 6.30 PM  Taboo in childrens’ literature: Pernilla Stalfelt and Petra Soukupová (Moravian Library)
25th Oct 6 PM        Film screening: Something must break (Art Cinema – Radnická)
30th Oct 5 PM        Book signing: Jussi Valtonen (Dobrovský Book Store – Joštova)
30th Oct 6 PM        Nordic literary salon: Jussi Valtonen (Moravian Library)
1st Nov 6 PM          Lecture: Sex education in Scandinavia (Moravian Library)

All events free except from the film screening (tickets).

Events in Nordic languages

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 Czech and Swedish

Film screening: 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

Nordic literary salon: Jussi Valtonen

The taboos in nowadays Finnish literature. Jussi Valtonen, awarded the prestigious Finlandia prize in 2014, who is not afraid to speak about topics such as cruelty to animals, the influence of media and marketing on human mind, immigration and xenophobia or dysfunctnional relationships in families and partnerships.

In Czech and Finnish

The festival is organised by the Scandinavian House in cooperation with the Moravian Library, Art Cinema and the Nordic Embassies in the Czech republic, with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Brno City Municipality and FILI literary agency.