Beyond Eastern Noir: Reimagining Russia and Eastern Europe in Nordic Cinemas

Addressing representations of Russia and neighbouring Eastern Europe in post-1989 Nordic cinemas, this ground-breaking book investigates their hitherto overlooked transnational dimension. Departing from the dark stereotypes that characterise much of ‘Eastern noir’, the book presents Russia and Eastern Europe as imagined spaces depicted with a surprisingly rich, but previously neglected cinematic diversity. Cross-disciplinary in its approach, and utilising in-depth case studies of feature films, documentaries and television dramas, such as Lilya 4-ever, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence and Occupied, the book presents a variety of perspectives on Russia and Eastern Europe found in the Nordic audiovisual imagination and considers how increasingly transnational affinities have led to a reimagining of Norden’s eastern neighbours in contemporary Nordic films.

• Born American (Renny Harlin, Finland, 1986)
• Orion’s Belt (Ola Solum, Norway, 1985)
• Maximum Penalty (Tómas Gislason, Denmark, 2000)
• Occupied (TV series, Norway 2015-)
• Interrogation (Jörn Donner, Finland, 2009)
• Burnt by Frost (Knut Erik Jensen, Norway, 1997)
• Ice Kiss (Knut Erik Jensen, Norway, 2008)
• Screwed in Tallinn (Tomas Alfredson, Sweden, 1999)
• Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana (Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 1994)
• Lilya 4-ever (Lukas Moodysson, Sweden, 2002)
• Buy Bye Beauty (Pål Hollender, Sweden, 2001)
• The 3 Rooms of Melancholia (Pirjo Honkasalo, Finland 2004)
• A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson, Sweden, 2014)
• The Cuckoo (Alexandr Rogozkhin, Russia, 2002)
• Popular Music (Reza Bagher, Sweden, 2004)
• Upperdog (Sara Johnsen, Norway, 2009)
• Fight for Existence (TV series, Norway, 2014–15)