The inaugural Scandinavian Film Festival is a modest affair in terms of numbers — just four films, only one of which is feature length. But it makes up in freshness what it lacks in width and breadth. The centerpiece flick, You, the Living (pictured), from director Roy Andersson, was described by one reviewer as "a morosely comic symphony on the meaning (or is that meaninglessness?) of life"; it served as Sweden's official entry in the Academy Awards' foreign-language-film category this year. And a trio of short films from the region prove just as appealing. In Mr. Mustache, for instance, Norway's Ørjan Jensen pays comic tribute to men who see the patch of flesh between their nose and mouth as an opportunity for often wild self-expression. And Iceland's Slurpinn & Co., a 1998 jaw-slackener from director Katrin Ólafsdóttir, is even more memorable: an absurd, wordless, elaborately choreographed office comedy that's captured by a revolving but otherwise stationary camera without a single edit prior to its bizarre bang of a conclusion. In the case of Slurpinn, and the fest as a whole, size doesn't matter.
The screenings begin at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at Starz FilmCenter, 900 Auraria Parkway; admission is $10. Learn more at 512-415-4687 or http://scandinavianfilmfest.com/denver.
