Melbourne film lovers will soon be able to escape winter through cinema when the 2026 Hurtigruten Nordic Film Festival returns this July with a packed lineup of acclaimed dramas, thrillers and dark comedies from across Scandinavia.
Running from 10 July to 2 August at Palace Cinemas the festival will showcase new films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including award winners, festival favourites and highly anticipated releases from some of the region’s most celebrated filmmakers.
Among the first titles announced is Icelandic comedy drama The Love That Remains from acclaimed director Hlynur Pálmason. The bittersweet story follows a family navigating separation across the course of a year and also features a standout canine performance from Pálmason’s own Icelandic sheepdog Panda.
Festival favourite Renate Reinsve stars in Butterfly, a mystery drama centred on two estranged sisters returning to Gran Canaria after their mother’s sudden death at a remote spiritual retreat. The film explores buried family secrets against the backdrop of the tourist island.
Also screening is The Last Resort, winner of the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at the 2026 Göteborg Film Festival. The Danish drama follows a family holidaying at an all-inclusive resort whose comfortable escape is disrupted by the arrival of refugees landing nearby.
Finnish black comedy The Kidnapping of a President revisits a bizarre true story involving far-right officers attempting to spark a revolution in 1930, while Sweden’s Doctor Glas reimagines the classic 1905 novel as a stylish psychological thriller exploring obsession and desire.
The festival will screen across Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Pentridge Cinema and The Astor Theatre, with the full programme and tickets to be released in June. For more information, visit nordicfilmfestival.com.au
