Film Festival

Crossings and Connections Film Festival

We are happy to announce the Crossings and Connections post-conference Film Festival! Join us as we explore the topic of migration through film on Sunday, June 22, 2025. Running all day on multiple screens at St. Olaf College, the festival will showcase a diverse selection of films – including dramas, documentaries, and shorts – that illuminate the journeys, challenges, and complexities of migration to, from and within Norway and the United States. The Crossings and Connections Film Festival seeks to foster dialogue and understanding around the global phenomenon of migration. Through powerful storytelling, the festival aims to amplify the voices of migrants, challenge stereotypes, and connect audiences with human stories. This festival is a platform to inspire meaningful conversations. Enjoy as many screenings as you like for $10 with conference registration. On campus lunch is available with advance purchase only. Tickets for the general public (without conference registration) will go on sale in May for $20. Tickets for individual films can be purchased the day of the festival at the door. Student rush tickets (with St. Olaf or Carleton student ID) are free 5 minutes before each screening. Transportation note: If you are taking the conference shuttle to/ from campus, note there are four departure times available on Sunday. See more information here here.

The following feature length films are confirmed (we will add more info soon!):

A Happy Day (113 min) IMDB link In Hisham Zaman’s newest feature film, A Happy Day, the landscape and mountains of Northern Norway prove to be a formidable obstacle to Hamid (Salah Qadi), Aras (Ravand Ali Taha), and Ismail (Mohamed Salah), three young friends longing to escape the asylum center for unaccompanied minors. On the cusp of adulthood and thus, deportation orders, the three friends come up with a plan to escape over the ongoing mountains. When newcomer Aida (Sarah Aman Mentzoni) begins a star-crossed romance with Hamid, the escape plan is jeopardized, commencing an unconventional portrayal of the hopes and dreams of these young asylum seekers. Although a story of their anxiety and despair, Hisham Zaman creates a celebration of their unique resilience in this world. Directed by keynote speaker Hisham Zaman. Brev til Kongen Letter to the King (75 min.) In Letter to the King, a group of refugees take a day trip from a refugee camp to Oslo each with their own personal agenda. A young man on the verge of deportation visits an old employer to collect an off the books salary, a martial arts expert is looking for work, a young woman haunted by the past is looking for vengeance, and Mirza is busy writing a letter to get his final wish granted, hoping to hand it to the kind personally. A group often regarded as homogeneous experiences a multitude of different choices and emotions on this day. They discover happiness, humiliation, love, and revenge, all tied together by Mirza’s fateful letter. Directed by keynote speaker Hisham Zaman. Eallogierdu [The Tundra Within Me] (95 min.) IMDB link Lena, an Oslo-based Sámi artist, returns to her Northern Norway hometown forced to confront a decision that has filled her with shame and regret. In the debut feature film from Director Sara Margrethe Oskal, The Tundra Within Me, explores the immense challenges facing Sámi reindeer herders today. In this captivating film, the audience is taken on a journey of identity to one’s heritage and traditions. Directed by Sara Margrethe Oskal. 15 Years Later (90 min) In 2005 filmmaker Charlotte Røhder Tvedt created a documentary film following 13 newly-arrived asylum seekers in Norway. She recorded everything that happened inside the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, from interviews, case management, and the final decision. 15 years later Tvedt decides to try and find all 13 people again and revisit their journeys. After much time apart, the filmmaker and audience get a unique look into the integration process in Norway and life after seeking asylum. Directed by Charlotte Røhder Tvedt. Hans Nielsen Hauge: The Man Who Changed Norway (66 minutes) IMDB link 25 year old Hans Nielsen Hauge experienced an encounter with God that changed both him and Norway. Through preaching, writing, and book publications, Hauge helped spread the word that spoke true to him. In line with his progressive teachings, he hired both what was considered the mentally and physically ill, and elected women as preachers and business leaders. Hauge preached in a time of dissidence with the state church, prompting persecution for him and all of his followers. Although an uphill climb to change Norway, Hauge and his followers left their impact deep in the stories of Norwegians and their eventual migrations. Directed by Harald Flem. Norwegian Dream (97 minutes) IMDB link 19-year old Polish immigrant Robert (Hubert Miłkowski) and his supervisor Ivar (Karl Bekele Steinland) fall into a romance at a fish factory on a Norwegian island. As Robert is sending money home to his family, Ivar, the black adopted son of the factory owner fascinates him. Ignorant of the judgment of his coworkers, it is Robert’s own internalized homophobia that holds him back. Between themes of workplace unity and romance, Director Leiv Igor Devold takes the audience on a journey of growth and self realization. Directed by Leiv Igor Devold. On High Heels in America (62 min) In the years 1946 to 1965, many young, unmarried women from the Agder counties, in southern Norway, emigrated to New York to find work. They left their villages and hometowns where material scarcity and pietistic Christianity had affected their upbringing. In New York they gradually became modern, liberated women. Many returned home eventually and brought with them their new lifestyle with them – influencing Norwegian society.

Through intimate and heartfelt stories from six of the women, combined with unique archive footage, we get an insight into their lives at the time. They each tell the story of their grand life journey with humor and wit. The documentary film sheds light on timeless topics, such as social control, women’s liberation, migration, and the American dream – topics that are still highly relevant today. This is the last chance to hear these women tell their own stories, which makes this documentary both touching, entertaining and historically valuable. Directed by Gunhild Westhagen Magnor.
Separated (93 min) IMDB link Separated, from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris, tells a powerful story of the Trump administration’s controversial 2018 policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the Mexico-US border. The film illustrates the lack of human rights, morality, and constitutional law held by top officials like Stephen Miller, Jeff Sessions, Kirstjen Nielsen. Separated also highlights honorable characters, such as Captain Jonathan White from the Office for Refugee Resettlement. Through his determination to intervene and protect the lives of those in his care, White and other characters deliver a riveting exposé of the Trump administration’s program and the brave political actors from both sides of the divide. Directed by Errol Morris.

We are excited to share with you that the post-conference film fest will feature two curated collections of shorts, Crossings and Connections.  The first short program, Crossings, will feature stories focused on the complex journeys taken to new lands. These include stories of the pursuits of refuge marked by both suffering and strength. From enduring displacement and navigating treacherous routes, this program illuminates the many uncertain journeys facing migrants and refugees today. The second short program, Connections, features shorts focused on stepping into the unknown. These stories showcase integration—both of migrants and refugees adapting to a new country, and the impact diaspora communities have on their new countries. From establishing new lives, participating in work and community, and facing stereotypes, this compilation emphasizes belonging.