Ingvar Sigurdsson wins acting award at Cannes Critics' Week
The Icelandic actor Ingvar Sigurdsson has won the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award at International Critics' Week for his lead performance in Hlynur Pálmason's A White, White Day. Critics' Week is the oldest parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival.
A White, White Day is set in a remote Icelandic town, where Sigurdsson plays the role of Ingimundur, an off-duty police chief who begins to suspect a local man of having had an affair with his late wife, who died in a tragic accident two years earlier. Gradually his obsession for finding out the truth accumulates and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones. The film is a story of grief, revenge, and unconditional love.
Both the film and Sigurdsson's performance have received very generous praise in reviews from Screen International, Cineuropa, and The Hollywood Reporter. Screen International says: “Ingimundur is a fascinating character, splendidly portrayed by Ingvar Sigurðsson.”
A White, White Day was written and directed by Hlynur Pálmason. The film was produced by Anton Máni Svansson and executive produced by Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson from Iceland's Join Motion Pictures and is an Icelandic/Danish/Swedish coproduction. Coproducers are Katrin Pors, Mikkel Jersin, and Eva Jakobsen for Snowglobe (DK), Anthony Muir for Film i Väst (SE), and Nima Yousefi for Hobab (SE). The film was shot by Maria von Hausswolff and edited by Julius Krebs Damsbo. The sound design is by Lars Halvorsen, the production design is by Hulda Helgadóttir, and the score was composed by Edmund Finnis.
Aside from Sigurdsson, the film's cast includes Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Hilmir Snær Gudnason, Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir, Björn Ingi Hilmarsson, Elma Stefanía Ágústsdóttir, Haraldur Ari Stefánsson, Laufey Elíasdóttir, Sigurdur Sigurjónsson, Arnmundur Ernst Bachman, Thór Tulinius, and Sverrir Thór Sverrisson.
International sales for A White, White Day are being handled by New Europe Film Sales (jan@neweuropefilmsales.com).