These selections come on the back of Olafur Darri Olafsson’s Best Actor award in Karlovy Vary for his performance in XL, and Benedikt Erlingsson’s Of Horses and Men selected in San Sebastian. Meanwhile Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s short film Whale Valley continues to collect international awards after its successful launch in Cannes, and Iceland’s star director Baltasar Kormákur is making headlines with his Hollywood action/comedy 2 Guns that topped the US charts last week and opened the Locarno International Film Festival. Quite a remarkable track record for a small nation that has produced only 3-5 films per year over the last two years due to financial restrictions.
Commenting on the latest A festivals Icelandic picks, Laufey Guðjónsdóttir, head of the Icelandic Film Centre said: “Naturally we are thrilled about the invites to the Festivals. Metalhead and Of Horses and Men are both made on low budgets during our financially difficult years.
Ragnar Bragason (pictured) has already made his name of course and Metalhead is definitely different from his previous films. Set in the rural community, it’s a gripping story of a family trying to cope with the loss of a son/brother and there is a very strong young female rebellious character.
Robert Douglas shot his very low budget film This is Sanlitun in China where he has been living for the past few years. Fans from his previous films will no doubt enjoy the crisp humour and atmosphere of his previous films.
Of Horses of Men is the first feature by Benedikt Erlingsson; he has been working in theatre and made some shorts and comedies for TV. In farmers’ communities in Iceland, it has always been important to have good horses. The ones who own the best horses are highly respected. When let down by your horse in front of your neighbours, your embarrassment does not get much more. The film has both humour, drama, and it is very true to the traditions in Iceland’s rural communities. All actors, director and the cameraman know all about horses, and it comes through.”
The three other Nordic titles having their world premieres in Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema programme are Heart of a Lion by Finland’s successful director Dome Karukoski, a study of prejudice and bigotry starring Laura Birn and Peter Franzén; Hotel in which Alicia Vikander and David Dencik attend group therapy under Swedish director Lisa Langseth’s lens, and The Immoral, a corrosive look at contemporary Norwegian society by the native Lars Daniel Krutzkoff Jacobsen. Nordic selections announced earlier are Lukas Moodysson’s We Are the Best and Erik Skjoldbjærg’s Pioneer, screening as Special Presentations, and Christoffer Boe’s Sex, Drugs & Taxation (Spies & Glistrup) showcased at the Vanguard sidebar.
Watch out our newsletter on August 30 in which Steve Gravestock, Nordic programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival will give his own personal views on Nordic films.