This work explores the film histories and cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, tracing the 20th-century development of each country's domestic film prodcuction and cinema audiences. The author discusses the place in cinema history of international figures such as Mauritz Stiller, Victor Sjostrom, Carl Dreyer and Ingmar Bergman, directors of films like "Vampyr", "Ordet", "Wild Strawberries", and "Cries and Whispers". The author looks at national film makers: August Blom, Bodil Ipsen, Lau Lauritzen and Nils Malmros; and also discusses contemporary film-makers like Gabriel Axel, the Kaurismaki brothers and Lars Von Trier. In discussing the film culture of each country, each section considers three specific questions: state control and support of film production; the cultural characteristics of Nordic film which both unify and define each country; and film production, content and form. In a final chapter, the authors assess the direction and future of the Nordic cinemas.

Nordic National Cinemas explores the film histories and cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and Challenges prevailing notions of Nordic cinema. Taking issue with the identification of Nordic cinemas with such internationally famed directors as Bergman and Dreyer, the authors examine each country's domestic film production, social and political context and domestic audiences.
Nordic National Cinemas traces the development of the cinema in the Nordic countries, from its origins in the early years of this century and the golden years of film making in the 1920s and 1930s, through the film production and censorship during the war year, the new-realism in the 1950s and 1960s, the influence of American cinema and the commercial and critical success of films in recent years. The authors not only explore the work of figures such as the early Hollywood directors Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjostrom and the internationally renowned Carl Dreyer and Ingmar Bergman, directors of such classics as Vampyr, Ordet, Wild Strawberries and Cries and Whispers, but also nationally important filmmakers such as August Blom, Bodil Ipsen, Lau Lauritzen and Nils Malmros and contemporary film makers as Gabriel Axel, director of Babette's Feast the Kaurismaki brothers, directors of The Match Factory Girl and The Leningrad Cowboys and the recently acclaimed Lars von Trier, director of Breaking the Waves.
The authors examine the phenomenon of Nordic cinema and, despite the similarities and collaborations between the countries, stress that Nordic cinema is the cinema of five particular traditions. Each chapter discusses the history and film culture of the individual country and considers three specific questions: state control and support of film production; the cultural characteristics of Nordic film which both unify and define peculiarities of each each country; film production, content and form. In a final chapter, the authors assess the direction and future of the Nordic cinemas.