26/11/2013 - From classics by Carl Th Dreyer and Victor Sjöström to the most recent premieres – the festival “will continue to reinforce the close ties between the Northern Lights and the radiance of Morocco”

Two Danish Oscar-winning directors – Bille August (Pelle the Conqueror/1988) and Susanne Bier (In a Better World [+see also:
trailer
film profile]/2010) – have joined the contingency of 33 filmmakers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden heading for the 13^th Marrakech International Film Festival, which will stage the largest focus so far on Scandinavian Cinema outside the Nordic countries.

Unspooling between November 29-December 7, the Moroccan festival will screen 47 Nordic features – from Carl Th Dreyer and Victor Sjöström’s 1928 classics to the most recent premieres. “Since its beginning Marrakech has been a showcase for the quality and diversity of Scandinavian cinema, and the 13^th edition will continue to reinforce the close ties between the Northern Lights and the radiance of Morocco,” said festival director Mélita Toscan du Plantier.

Swedish director Lisa Langseth’s second feature, Hotel [+see also:
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film profile], which opened domestically on October 4, has been selected for the international competition with 15 entries, to be judged by a jury presided by US director Martin Scorsese. Starring Alicia Vikander and David Dencik, Langseth’s drama follows a woman who has everything – a good job, lots of friends, a secure relationship – until the day it all falls apart. “I can’t wait to hear what Scorsese thinks about it,” she said.

Last year Danish director Tobias Lindholm’s A Hijacking [+see also:
film review
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interview: Tobias Lindholm
film profile] (2012) won the Jury Prize, adding Best Actor for Søren Malling; A Hijacking is also on this year’s programme, with Michael Noer’s Northwest [+see also:
film review
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interview: Michael Noer
film profile] (2013), Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair [+see also:
film review
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interview: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
interview: Nikolaj Arcel
film profile] (2012) and Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
film profile] (2012). Lindholm, Noer, Vinterberg, Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive/2011), Per Fly (Waltz for Monica/2013) and actor Mads Mikkelsen are among the attendants.

Swedish director Ingmar Bergman is represented by three films, The Seventh Seal (1957), Autumn Sonata (1978), Saraband [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2003); Bergman was nominated for nine Oscars, one for Autumn Sonata, while Jan Troell received two noms, for The Emigrants (1971). Langseth, Troell, Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In [+see also:
film review
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interview: John Nordling
interview: Tomas Alfredson
film profile]), Ruben Östlund (Play [+see also:
film review
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interview: Ruben Östlund
interview: Ruben Ostlund
film profile]) and actresses Lena Endre, Edda Magnason and Noomi Rapace are among those flying the Swedish colours.

Norwegian director Erik Poppe will be in Marrakech to present his new A Thousand Times Good Night [+see also:
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interview: Erik Poppe
film profile], with ao Sara Johnsen (All That Matters Is Past [+see also:
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film profile]), Pål Sletaune’s (Babycall [+see also:
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film profile]), and actress Maria Bonnevie. Finnish representatives include directors Aku Louhimies (Frozen City [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aku Louhimies
interview: Markus Selin
film profile]), Dome Karukoski and actress Kati Outinen - Icelandic arrivals include directors Dagur Kári (Noi the Albino) and Baltasar Kormákur (101 Reykjavik). – Northern Lights: Tribute to Scandinavian Cinema will open on December 4 at Marrakech’s Palais des Congrès.