ANGELS OF THE UNIVERSE - dir. FRIDRIK THOR FRIDRIKSSON

Synopsis
Angels of the Universe portrays the life of Paul (Ingvar Sigurdsson), who suffers from schizophrenia, and the way people react to his illness. At first we see him with his family, childhood friends and the girl (Halldóra Geirhardsdóttir) that he loves, and then we follow him into the psychiatric hospital. There we meet his colourful companions Óli Beatle (Baltasar Kormákur), who believes he has written all the Beatles? songs and sent them to the group as telepathic messages; the sophisticated and erudite Viktor (Björn Jörundur), who sometimes suddenly turns into Hitler; and Peter (Hilmir Snær Gudnason), Paul's room-mate, who has freaked out on acid and is under the impression he wrote a doctorate about Schiller at a Chinese university.

Original title: Englar alheimsins
English title: Angels of the Universe
Genre: Drama
Language: Icelandic

Director: Fridrik Thór Fridriksson
Scriptwriter: Einar Már Gudmundsson, based on his award winning novel by the same name
Main cast: Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, Baltasar Kormákur, Hilmir Snaer Gudnason, Björn Jr. Fridbjörnsson
Editor: Sigvaldi J. Kárason, Skule Eriksen
Cinematographer: Harald Paulgaard
Sound design: Kjartan Kjartansson
Music: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson & Sigur Rós
Production design: Jón Steinar Ragnarsson
Producer(s): Fridrik Thór Fridriksson
Line producer: Hrönn Kristinsdóttir
Co-producer(s): Peter Rommel, Egil Ödegard, Anna María Karlsdóttir, Gunnar Carlsson, Peter Aalbæk Jensen
Production company: Icelandic Film Corporation
Co-production company: Filmhuset Norway, Peter Rommel Film Production Germany, ZDF/ARTE and ORB Germany, SVT Sweden, Zentropa Productions Denmark
International sales & distribution: Menemsha Entertainment, 1157 S. Beverly Drive, 2nd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90035 USA

Country: Iceland
Sound: Dolby Digital SRD
Length: 97 minutes
Screening format: 35 mm
Production format: 35 mm
Film gauge/aspect ratio: 1:1.85
Premiere date and year: January 1. 2000

Festivals

• Göteborg Film Festival 2000 Sweden
• Filmfest München 2000 Germany
• Karlovy Vary Int. Film Festival 2000 Czech Republic
• Galway Film Fleadh 2000 Ireland
• Jerusalem Film Festival 2000 Israel
• The Motovun Film Festival 2000 Croatia
• Edinburgh Int. Film Festival 2000 Scotland
• Blue Sea Film Festival 2000 Finland
• New Nordic Films, Haugesund 2000 Norway
• Toronto Int. Film Festival 2000 Canada
• Film by the Sea 2000 Holland
• Film Forum Arsenals 2000 Latvia
• Warsaw Film Festival 2000 Poland
• Pusan Int. Film Festival 2000 S-Korea
• Flanders Int. Film Festival 2000 Belgium
• Sao Paulo Int. Film Festival 2000 Brazil
• Durban Int. Film Festival 2000 South-Africa
• Nordische Filmtage 2000 Germany
• Thessaloniki Int. Film Festival 2000 Greece
• Black Nights Film Festival 2000 Estonia
• Sundance Film Festival 2001 USA
• Santa Barbara Film Festival 2001 USA
• Cinema nordique in Rouen 2001 France
• Istanbul Int. Film Festival 2001 Turkey
• Festival Cinema Africano 2001 Italy
• Hong Kong Int. Film Festival 2001 Hong Kong
• Troia Int. Film Festival 2001 Portugal
• Geniuzastare Film Festival 2001 Portugal
• Melbourne Int. Film Festival 2001 Australia
• Festival de Sevilla 2001 Spain
• 27th Korean Independent Film Festival 2001 Korea
  
  Awards & nominations
• Göteborg Film Festival: Best Screenplay
• Karlovy Vary Int. Film Festival: The main Fipresci Jury Prize and Special Jury Mention. Nominated for the Crystal Globe 
• Film by the Sea International Film Festival: Won the Film & Literature Award
• European Film Awards 2000: The People´s Choice Awards: Best European Actor, Ingvar E. Sigurdsson
• European Film Awards 2000: Nomination, Best European Actor, Ingvar E. Sigurdsson
• Iceland´s entry for the Oscar, Best Foreign Language Film 2000
• The Edda Awards Iceland: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor ( Ingvar E. Sigurdsson), Best Supporting Actress (Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir). Best Original Score (Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and Sigur-Rós), Best Sound Design
• Troia Int. Film Festival: The Silver Dolphin, Ingvar E. Sigurdsson for Best Actor. Special Mention to Fridrik Thór Fridriksson