M A Y  P R O G R A M M E
 
May 22, 2013, 6.30 p.m.

The Snow Cave Man (Snøhulemannen), Norway
Documentary. Dir. Fridtjof Kjæreng, 80 min, Norwegian language, English subtitles, 2010.
 
The Snow Cave Man has lived in snowcaves high up in the icy Norwegian mountains for 20 years. Like Nietzsche's Zarathustra, he has developed his own morale code and a biting sense of humour. His life is far from the bourgeois materialistic life in the new Scandinavian welfare states. He is a true ecologist, in his own way, living amongst the blizzards and reindeer high in the Norwegian mountains.

The Snow Caveman is shocked to receive the news that his mother has died. She leaves behind a clear message to him in the form of an ultimatum: In her last will and testament he inherits her apartment in the city, valued at € 100 000, but on the condition that he lives in the apartment or uses the money to purchase permanent housing and settles down like a normal person. What will The Snow Caveman do? Give up his life as a free spirit in the mountains - or forfeit the money from his inheritance? The film about the Snow Caveman centres on the quest for liberty and the human cost of complete freedom.

Fridtjof Kjæreng (b. 1964) has twenty years experience as a director and producer in the Norwegian film and TV industry. He is regarded as one of the most progressive directors working in Norway today, and has had several successful films and television series' since he started producing independently. His documentaries also include films like Hussain’s Butcher Shop (2000) and Fuckin’ Rock’n’ Rolla (2002), but his arguably most known production is the 2010 film The Snow Cave Man, which became an audience hit in Norwegian cinemas
 
 


May 29, 2013, 6.30 p.m.

Upperdog, Norway
Drama. Dir. Sara Johnsen, 95 min, Norwegian language, English subtitles, 2009.

As young children, the half-siblings Axel and Yanne are adopted to Norway, he to material wealth on Oslo's west side, she to an average family on the east side to town. With his well-meaning, but indulgent adoptive parents, Axel grows up to become a spoiled brat who hides the insecurity of his troubled past behind an Indifferent facade. In contrast to her younger brother, Yanne remembers their journey to Norway, but because they were separated upon arrival, she has no idea where or who he might be now.

However, all this is about to change as Yanne's Polish friend Maria starts working as a maid for Alex's parents, and discovers a photograph of him as a young boy. Maria has seen the same picture on the wall of Yanne's flat, and with an outsider's unrestrained enthusiasm, she takes on the task of reuniting them.
Yanne isn't immediately convinced that contacting her brother after all these years is such a good idea; she's already got her hands full with Per, a tormented ex-marine with a full load of demons In his baggage after serving in Afghanistan.

For her part, Maria becomes much more intimately involved with the son in the house than would seem proper for a maid, and soon finds herself entangled in a turbulent affair with her friend's little brother. Before she has time to realize the consequences, she has sparked a chain of events that Involves many more feelings than just her own.

Upperdog is a story from contemporary Oslo. Four young, charming, hot-blooded, self-centred and passionate people are forced to reconsider their view of themselves and the world around them. They lose balance, lose themselves In the confusion between truth and lies.

CAST: Hermann Sabado, Agnieszka Grochowska, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, etc.
 

 
 

 

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The Nordic films are shown in original language with English subtitles on two Wednesdays of the month at the Cinema Theatre Pasaka (Sv. Ignoto 4/3, Vilnius). The Club usually runs the screenings from the beginning of September till the end of June; during summer months July and August the Film Club is on vacation. The entrance to the screenings is free of charge; the reservation of seats is not available.

Note!
Spectators of the Nordic Film Club have to pick free-tickets at the ticket office of the Cinema Theatre Pasaka; spectators without tickets are denied the entry to the screenings.