New Nordic Virtual Cinema: Maria's Paradise & The Reformist

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Category
Entertainment
Start date
2021-02-26 12:00:00
End date
2021-03-04 23:00:00
Address / City
New York
Location
NY, US
New Nordic Virtual Cinema at Scandinavia House continues from February 26 through March 4 with Maria’s Paradise /Marian paratiisi (Finland, 2019; dir. Zaida Bergroth) and The Reformist — A Female Imam /Reformisten (Denmark, 2019; dir. Marie Skovgard). All sessions in this series take place on a virtual platform over seven-day periods (Friday — Thursday) and are open to viewers throughout the U.S.

In Maria’s Paradise /Marian paratiisi, the orphan Salome is among the many devoted followers of Maria Åkerblom, a charismatic seer who claims that God visits her in her dreams, living together in a rural commune. But when she develops a friendship with the irreverent and cynical Maria, Salome is inspired to question her leader’s teachings for the very first time. An intense, intelligent, and often chilling study of cults based on a scandal that took place in Finland in the 1920s, Maria’s Paradise holds up a not-so-distant mirror to demagoguery in our own time; an “unsettling, nuanced, fact-based drama” (The Hollywood Reporter). Directed by Zaida Bergroth (110 minutes. In Finnish with English subtitles.)

A documentary by director Marie Skovgard, The Reformist — A Female Imam follows Danish activist and progressive Muslim leader Sherin Khankan over her work to establish Europe’s first mosque led by female imams. Aiming to confront and challenge the fear surrounding Islam, while calling for a new feminist agenda, Khankan and fellow female imam Saliha Marie Fetteh opened the Mariam mosque in Copenhagen in 2016. Over a period of more than three years, Skovgard followed her quest to create a space empowering women in the community while also encouraging alternate religious interpretations. “This well-crafted film is never less than involving and thought-provoking” (Screen Daily). (110 minutes. In Danish, Swedish, and Arabic with English subtitles.
Organizer
Scandinavia House
Phone
212-779-3587
Email
press@amscan.org