Transnational Cinema In A Global North: Nordic Cinema In Transition

Scholarly writing on Nordic cinema has historically focused on such auteurs as Carl Dreyer and Ingmar Bergman. Recent work has neglected to contextualize contemporary Nordic film within the increasingly global climate of the five Nordic countries. While each country retains idiosyncratic themes and cinematic identity, Nordic cinema also shows increasing homogenization in production strategies, aesthetics, and audience taste. At the same time, contemporary Nordic films have enjoyed renewed popularity at home and have at the same time vaulted to global prominence. From heritage films like Babette’s Feast and Pelle the Conquerer to the avant-garde Dogma movement led by Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark), to the work of Lukas Moodysson and Aki Kaurismaki, a variety of Nordic films now have wide exposure.

This collection of essays edited by Andrew Nestingen and Trevor G. Elkington is the first to focus on the globalization of Nordic film, particularly its trend toward transnational production procedures, themes, and actors. Wide in breadth, Nestingen and Elkington’s book addresses the comparative cinematic histories of the Nordic countries, the factors that contributed to increased flexibility of national cinematic borders, and the effects of aesthetic and economic trends on the films themselves. To that end, a section of the book is dedicated to analyses of recently influential Nordic films, each piece incorporating transnational influences into its analysis to offer an up-to-date collection of Nordic film criticism. A groundbreaking and much-needed contribution to Nordic film studies, Transnational Cinema in a Global North: Nordic Cinema in Transition provides a unique addition to the growing body of work on transnationalism and globalization.

Andrew Nestingen is assistant professor of Scandinavian studies at the University of Washington.

Trevor G. Elkington is assistant professor of English and cultural studies at the University of Copenhagen.