“Everything is possible” is the new motto of the fifth anniversary Nordic-Baltic film festival “Northern Lights”, which will be taking place in Minsk from May 10 to May 17.

All screenings will take place at “MIR”cinema, which has already become festival’s traditional place for annual celebration of film and culture.

“Northern Lights”traditionally represents films from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. However, more distant northern regions must not be forgotten! Last year we screened a film from Faroe Islands and this year we are including Greenland!

This year “Northern Lights”includes 18 films from Northern and Baltic countries in the main program. We will show animation (children’s programme “ZZYA-Kids”), spherical films and a fiction film from Greenland also for the first time ever. Retrospective and workshops for documentarists and many other activities with our foreign guests participating are planned within the industrial platform of “Northern Lights”.

List of films:

MAY 10 | FRIDAY

• 05/10 | 18:30 – “Anori” (Greenland), Dir. Pipaluk K. Jørgensen;
• 05/10 | 21:30 – “The Magic Life of V” (Finland, Denmark, Bulgaria), Dir. Tonislav Hristov;

MAY 11 | SATURDAY

• 05/11 | 15:00 – “Jacob, Mimmi and Talking Dogs” (Latvia), Dir. Edmunds Jansons;
• 05/11 | 19:00 – “Take it or Leave it” (Estonia), Dir. Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo + Q&Awith producer Ivo Felt;
• 05/11 | 21:45 – “The Reformist” (Denmark), Dir. Marie Skovgaard;

MAY 12 | SUNDAY

• 05/12 | 15:00– “Cattle Hill” (Norway), Dir. Lise I. Osvoll;
• 05/12 | 19:00 – “Woman at War” (Iceland), Dir. Benedikt Erlingsson;
• 05/12 | 19:00 – Fulldome Shows (Northern Lights FF Special Screenings);
• 05/12 | 21:30 – “Where Man Returns” (Norway), Dir. Egil Håskjold Larsen;

MAY 13 | MONDAY

• 05/13 | 19:00 – “Holiday” (Denmark), Dir. Isabella Eklöf;
• 05/13 | 21:45 – “Little Moscow” (Iceland), Dir. Grimur Hokanarson;

MAY 14 | TUESDAY

• 05/14 | 19:00 – “Animus Animalis” (Lithuania), Dir. Aistė Žegulytė+ Q&Awith the director;
• 05/14 | 21:30 – “X&Y” (Sweden), Dir. Anna Odell;

MAY 15 | WEDNESDAY

• 05/15 | 19:00 – ”A Good Week for Democracy” (Sweden), Dir. Cecilia Björk;
• 05/15 | 21:30 – “Rodeo” (Estonia), Dir. Raimo Jõerand, Kiur Aarma;

MAY 16 | THURSDAY

• 05/16 | 19:00 – “Summer Survivors” (Lithuania), Dir. Marija Kavtaradzė;
• 05/16 | 19:00 – Fulldome Shows (Northern Lights FF Special Screenings);
• 05/16 | 21:30 – “Homo Novus” (Latvia), Dir. Anna Viduleja;

MAY 17 | FRIDAY

• 05/17 | 19:15 – “My Granny From Mars” (Belarus, Ukraine), Dir. Alexander Mihalkovich;
• 05/17 | 21:45 – “Aurora” (Finland), Dir. Miia Tervo;

Full programme can also be found here in English and Belarusian.

Festival’s Motto – “Everything is possible!”

The motto of 2019 “Everything is possible” is focusing on unbounded possibilities of a person in this world. We are convinced that opportunities are available for everyone who is looking for them.

We believe it is possible to have an independent film festival in Belarus. We aim to challenge people and make them comfortable around discussions on complicated topics. We want people to be able to find solutions to conflicts, to hold discussion from win-win positions and to respect one another. Why? Because “everything is possible”.

These festivals are important for each country as this is a great opportunity to make a “cultural trip” to other cultures through cinema.Therefore, we want to show to the people of Belarus the way their northern neighbours express their creative powers!

List of Events & Workshops:

MAY 10 | FRIDAY

• 05/10 | 17:30 – Opening Gala

MAY 11 | SATURDAY

• 05/11 | 12:00 – Open lecture with actress Nukaka Coster-Waldau
• 05/11 | 13:30 – 14:30 – City of Future
  
• 05/11 | 14:00 – 17:00 – Retrospective

MAY 12 | SUNDAY

• 05/12 | 12:00 – 13:00 – Master Class: “How to Run an Oscar Campaign and How Much Does It Cost?”
  
• 05/12 | 13:30 – 14:30 – Dream Job
• 05/12 | 14:00 – 17:00 – Retrospective

MAY 13 | MONDAY

• 05/13 | 20:30 – Open talk on the topic of domestic violence and discrimination of women: “Here’s Your Vacation!” 

MAY 14 | TUESDAY

• 05/14 | 19:00 – Piano concert: “Towards Northern Lights”

MAY 15 | WEDNESDAY

• 05/15 | 14:00 – 17:00 – Scouting at Northern Lights (Documentary Projects)
  

MAY 16 | THURSDAY

• 05/16 | 14:00 – 17:00 – Discussion: Fake News

MAY 17 | FRIDAY

• 05/17 | 19:00 – Poster Competition: Final Results

Tickets:

Tickets can be bought via the official page.

Additional Information

More information on the event can be found on the official website of the event:
https://www.northernlightsff.com/en

Visuals and introductory videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2GDZk67Hcc&list=PLzu1U2qKaSjctDVu_h6fu9nBg9ksV2agC&index=20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppmfLvlD3-Y

Organisers and Partners

Organiser: Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania (www.norden.lt).

Co-organizers: Norwegian Embassy in Kiev, Danish Cultural Institute in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Current Time TV, The unitary enterprise Kinovideoprokat of the Minsk City Executive Committee – KinoMinska, Volia Films production company.
 
General partners: Finnish Liaison Office in Belarus, Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Belarus, Embassy of Estonia in Belarus, Embassy of Lithuania in Belarus,  Embassy of Latvia in Belarus, Icelandic Film Centre, Finnish Film Foundation, Estonian Film Institute, Norwegian Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, Danish Film Institute, Lithuanian Film Centre, National Film Centre of Latvia, B2B DOC – Baltic to Black Sea Documentary Network.

Partners: Hotel DoubleTree by Hilton Minsk, Official Distributor of Ford in Belarus, Taxi 5, Art-Group “Sinie Gory”, FirstRental Rental House, “Svobody 4” Bar, “Zerno” Coffee Shop, Moonlightroom.by, DataHata.by, Blockbuster.by.

Media partners: Afisha.tut.by, Citydog.by, 34mag.net, ByCard.by, Belarus3, Belarus24, The Village, Mvradio.by.