Iceland’s star actor plays the title role in Hlynur Pálmason’s A White, White Day which was among the hottest arthouse titles in Cannes. 

The Critics’ Week’s Louis Roedere Foundation Rising Star Award to Ingvar E. Sigurðsson was handed out on Wednesday evening by jury president Ciro Guerra and members Marianne Slot (French producer of Woman at War), actress Amira Casar, film critic Dija Mambu and director Jonas Carpignano. 

In the film Ingvar E. Sigurðsson plays a widowed police officer who becomes obsessed by a man whom he suspects had an affair with his wife. His obsession gradually endangers himself and his loved ones.

Director Hlynur Pálmason who collaborated with Sigurðsson on his graduation film The Painter, told nordicfilmandtvnews.com that he wrote and developed the film with the actor in mind and in dialogue with him. “Ingvar is so good at what he does that it gives me a lot of freedom to write and play out very long and complex scenes and scenarios that are often difficult to execute. He's an extremely physical actor and very present and involved emotionally, so we had a great collaboration,” Pálmason said. 

Sigurðsson is among Iceland’s most established and celebrated actors, with more than 80 screen works to his credit such as the films Angels of the Universe, Parents, Of Horses and Men, Everest, Fantastic Beasts-The Crimes of Grindelwald and the TV series Trapped. 

Pálmason’s second feature A White, White Day has had an excellent response in Cannes as stressed by sales agent Jan Naszewski of New Europe Film Sales. “The film was definitely one of the buzzy arthouse titles in Cannes; we got great reviews and found a number of devoted, passionate distributors for it. All market screenings were packed," he said. 

Foreign territories that acquired the film include Denmark (Øst for Paradis), Norway (Mer Film), France (Urban Distribution), Switzerland (Xenix), Poland (New Horizons Association), Australia/New Zealand (Palace), Greece (Ewird Wave), Czech Republic/Slovakia (Aero), the Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), with key territories in negotiations such as the UK, Germany/Austria, Benelux and China. 

The film was produced by Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures, in co-production with Denmark’s Snowglobe, Sweden’s Hob AB, support among others from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.  Sena will release it in Iceland September 6, 2019. 

Among the winners of the 58th Critics’ Week was also Faroese-born Copenhagen-based Andrias Høgenni who was bestowed the Canal+ Award for his short film Ikki Illa meint (No Bad Intention) produced by Meta Film. It’s the story of an awkward confrontation between two friends at a supermarket. Høgenni is a graduate from Copenhagen’s alternative Super 16 film school.  The Cannes sidebar’s Grand Prize went to the French animation film I Lost My Body by Jérémy Clapin. 

Read our interview with Hlynur Pálmason CLICK HERE.