2026 Hurtigruten Nordic Film Festival Full Program Announced
This year’s festival opens with the powerful Icelandic drama Árru.
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The Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival returns in 2026 with another bumper program this July and August.
Held at Palace Nova Eastend and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas from Wednesday 23 July to Sunday 13 August, cinefiles can experience the unique stories from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
Naming rights partner for the second year, Hurtigruten, is long associated with the Nordic region. Damian Perry, Managing Director APAC, Hurtigruten, says, “As the original and undisputed travel expert in the region and along Norway’s stunning coastline for over 130 years, Hurtigruten has always been about genuine and authentic experiences with a deep connection to the Nordic people. We're proud to partner with Palace to celebrate the richness of Nordic storytelling. which is a natural extension of who we are.”
This year’s program includes cinematic legends, award winners and distinctive voices, with the powerful Icelandic drama Árru opening the festival. The directorial debut of Elle Sofe Sara, the film follows a family of Sàmi reindeer herders whose community and way of life are threatened by a proposed mining project.
There will be special presentations of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or-winning flick Fjord, which stars Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as a Romanian-Norwegian conservative couple who come under suspicion after moving to the wife's progressive, remote Norwegian hometown, and Butterfly, a drama focusing on a pair of estranged sisters who reunite after their mother's mysterious passing.
Closing out this year’s festival is a special 60th anniversary screening of Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece, Persona, starring the iconic Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson.
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Eccentric Swedish director Bo Widerberg’s documentary Being Bo Widerberg (I huvudet på Bo) will be shown, along with a selection of Widerberg's films, including Ådalen 31, Raven’s End (Kvarteret Korpen) and Elvira Madigan.
Several highlights of the 2026 Hurtigruten Nordic Film Festival include director Hlynur Pálmason’s (A White, White Day, Godland) Icelandic comedy/drama The Love That Remains (Ástin sem eftir er), Danish drama The Last Resort (Paradis), which won the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the 2026 Göteborg Film Festival, the black comedy The Kidnapping of a President (Presidentin Kyyditys), based on the bizarre true story about the chaos that ensues when a group of far-right Finnish officers drunkenly decide to start a revolution in 1930 and the Norwegian box office hit drama The Battle of Oslo (Blücher).
The 2026 Hurtigruten Nordic Film Festival takes place at Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas from Wednesday 22 July to Sunday 16 August. For program and ticket details, visit scandinavianfilmfestival.com.
