The Grump phenomenon

Scandi is a well-established film festival that has been running for 12 years. Czech and Slovak audiences attend it, like it on Facebook and Instagram, cinemas programme it, and journalists praise it. We are often asked in the summer what will be at Scandi in the winter, what we bought at the Berlinale or Cannes, who will be attending, and what they can look forward to. Scandi presents around 10 premiere films in 7 days and attracts 20,000 viewers, as it has done for several years in a row. Scandi, like our October Be2Can festival, has more than 70 networked partner cinemas and a mirrored programme on the Edisonline VOD platform, and the Film Europe Channel on television - both with feature sections dedicated to Nordic film. This cinema, VOD, and TV connection with subsequent traditional distribution remains our original concept. I haven\\\\\\\'t seen anyone else doing it like us. The embassies and consulates of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland are happy to cooperate with us, some even sponsor us, organise events with us, and help with communication and invitations to delegations. Scandi usually needs no introduction to the media and journalists, who talk and write about us quite organically.

Scandi is an ideal showcase that brings joy. There\\\\\\\'s no need to be jealous, because anyone can do it. All it takes is a little effort. Maintain the concept of a festival and distribution showcase for at least a decade, regularly purchase tens of thousands of euros worth of films that can be used not only for festivals but also for distribution, build a good team and a returning audience, build at least three boutique cinemas with a stylish café where your projects have a centre, and keep paying for it all in a ratio of 20% public funds and 80% your own.

The basis of our movement is to be clear and economical. We are grateful for the help, but for Scandi and Film Europe to function, it doesn\\\\\\\'t matter to us whether the minister of culture is progressive or a flat-earther. Help yourself, man, and God will help you. That\\\\\\\'s how it was for us, that\\\\\\\'s how it is, and that\\\\\\\'s how it will probably remain. And let me repeat: it could always be worse. That\\\\\\\'s one of the few certainties we have. So let\\\\\\\'s fight.

This year\\\\\\\'s natural headliner is The Last Viking by our Scandi court Danish director Anders Thomas Jensen. We have all his films, so study the director\\\\\\\'s artistry on Edisonline, where you will find Riders of Justice, Adam\\\\\\\'s Apples, and more. And if that\\\\\\\'s not enough for you, Jensen wrote the screenplay for The Shamer’s Daughter and Daniel for Scandi and Edisonline. And yes, I forgot, Mads Mikkelsen doesn\\\\\\\'t just play in The Last Viking... haha... he is also the unofficial ambassador of Nordic and European cinema! And Film Europe will probably erect a statue of him at the old Edison Filmhub in Prague, and the new one in Bratislava. And we will make a proper request for it at the Audiovisual Fund. It will be made of gold.

You\\\\\\\'ve probably already gotten used to the fact that Scandi doesn\\\\\\\'t focus on themes. If a theme emerges in a group of films, it\\\\\\\'s because it\\\\\\\'s objectively felt by society. It naturally becomes a theme for creators as well as critics and audiences. This year, it\\\\\\\'s all about relationships. Family relationships, as in the Anderson Brothers; secretive relationships, as in Don\\\\\\\'t Call Me Mama; strange and bizarre relationships, as in Sudden Outburst of Emotions; sadly comical relationships, as in New Beginnings; and dangerous and unpredictable relationships, as in the road movie Live a Little. The second thematic headliner is grumpy old men. We find them in The Last Viking and Let It Rain, but mainly it is the theme of our four Finnish “Grump” films. Old men with declining testosterone and rising aggression due to unfulfilled ambitions and feelings of non-recognition are a timely geopolitical theme. Wars, #MeToo, power, bad taste, stupidity, lies, and theft. The syndrome of the old man across the Atlantic, the syndrome of the old man in Moscow. And between them, a continent they would like to tear apart. Beijing is having fun and we are suffering.

Welcome to Scandi 2026.

Ivan Hronec