On Friday evening, the 3rd annual Nordic Film Festival in Luxembourg got off to a flying start with the screening of Kasper Barfoed's Sommeren 92 (The Summer of '92), an uplifting retelling of the story that saw Denmark become European football champions in 1992 against all the odds.

The story was told from the perspective of the manager, Richard Møller Nielsen (Ulrich Thomsen), who had achieved great success with under-age teams and had been entrusted with the senior team for the qualifications and subsequently the finals held in Sweden. Originally Yugoslavia had won the group but were then prevented from playing the the 8-team finals, with Denmark having just 10 days to prepare. The team, and particularly Brian Laudrup (Cyron Melville), resisted the manager's approach but, slowly but surely, they started to get results. and the rest is history.

This uplifting drama, provided a perfect start to the five-film festival which continues over the next four days. The full programme is as follows:

- Fri 3 June @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Sommeren ‘92 / The Summer of '92 (DK / UK; EN sub-titles; sports drama)

- Sat 4 June @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Hrútar / Rams (IS / DK / NO / PL; EN sub-titles; drama)

- Sun 5 June @ 17:00@ Cinémathèque: Bölgen / The Wave (NO; EN sub-titles; thriller)

- Mon 6 June @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: En man som heter Ove / A Man Called Ove (SE; FR sub-titles; comedy drama)

- Tue 7 June @ 19:00 @ Ciné Utopia: Miekkailija / The Fencer (FI / ES / RU; EN sub-titles; sports drama) preceded by the Audience Prize

Tickets (€8.80/screening or €25 for a Season Special Ticket) are available in advance from www.nordicfilmfestival.lu or at the door (cash only).

Geoff Thompson, festival organiser, had opened the festival prior to the screening and had thanked all the sponsors, including Sparinvest and Luxair, as well as the Danish and finnish ambassadors and the Consuls General of Sweden, Iceland and Norway, and also the volunteers.

Bent Sorensen of Sparinvest, the event's gold sponsor, addressed the full screening room (there were just a handful of seats left unoccupied at the front by the time the film started) and talked about both Denmark and Luxembourg being small countries that punch above their weight. After the screening, Sparinvest hosted a reception which involved a wonderful array of food prepared by their chef.

Photos by Robin Jensen - for full photo album (on Facebook), see https://www.facebook.com/Chroniclelu/photos/?tab=album&album_id=889251777852795