After a solid 2014, the new year promises to be an interesting period for Nordic genre cinema. The effects of a few small, random indie hits are now starting to make waves for real.
The leap into a new year is time for reflections on the past and hopes for the future. But first, let me thank you for visiting this website. NordicFantasy.info is still the only website of its kind in the entire cosmos, and more and more people seem to appreciate it. In the site’s 4th complete year, i.e. 2014, visitor statistics were up 85,3 % compared to 2013. January 2015 is not yet over but we’ve had more visitors in the first 3 weeks than in all of 2011. All I can say is; thank you!
However, what is important are the movies. The year we just left had great entries in the CV of Nordic genre cinema; Dead Snow 2 took icy zombie mayhem to a new level, and ambitious low budget sci-fi got two features, Everywhen and Threads of Destiny. Doctor Proctor, Danny’s Doomsday and American Burger were some of the medium to big budget projects that arrived on the scene, not just in attempts to captivate audiences, but part of a trend that solidifies more each year. Heartless was even an innovation in Nordic terms, and even though it was not a great success, it was renewed for a second season. Simply put, 2014 was a good year, thanks to these projects and many others.
If you look at our massive overviews of upcoming horror and upcoming sci-fi / fantasy, you’ll see that there is a lot to look forward to. Many of these projects will premiere in 2015, such as the much awaited Zon 261, the unique lesbian exploitation comedy Dyke Hard, and the first ever sequel to the film that kickstarted the Nordic horror wave, Dark Woods. The selection of big budget fantasy will improve in 2015 with The shamer’s daughter and The circle, while we wait for the massive-budgeted Brothers Lionheart in 2016.
No offence to the mentioned movies, but what is possibly the best news to enter 2015 with is a brand new public financing scheme called Nordic Genre Boost, organized by Nordic Film & TV Fund in Oslo. This business programme is the result of the success of movies such as Let the Right One In, Troll Hunter and Iron Sky. These movies have proved that not only can competent genre movies be made in the region, but achieve great success too. More on this soon.
As we enter 2015, Nordic genre directors, writers and producers can be confident that they are now part on an established scene. Horror, sci-fi and fantasy are no longer exceptions or happy accidents or underground indie projects, but officially recognised by public funding bodies – the “real” film industry – as worthy of investments. That’s a major step forward in the Nordic countries countries.
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