THE COUNTY and A WHITE, WHITE DAY selected for Toronto
Two Icelandic features have been selected for the Toronto International Film Festival, Grímur Hákonarson's The County and Hlynur Pálmason's A White, White Day. Both of the films will screen in the Contemporary World Cinema section. The festival will run from September 5 – 15.
The County
The County was written and directed by Grímur Hákonarson and this will be the film's international premiere. It stars Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir, Sigurdur Sigurjónsson, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Hannes Óli Ágústsson, Hinrik Ólafsson and Edda Björg Eyjólfsdóttir.
The film tells the story of Inga who runs a deeply indebted dairy farm in a remote valley in Iceland. After a tragic loss, she decides to rise up against the corrupt establishment exploiting her and the local community, and finally live life on her own terms.
The County is an Icelandic/Danish/French/German coproduction and was produced by Grímar Jónsson for Netop Films and coproduced by Jacob Jarek, Ditte Milsted, Caroline Schluter, Sol Bondy, Jamila Wenske, Carole Scotta and Julie Billy. The film was shot by Mart Taniel, edited by Kristján Lodmfjörd and the score was composed by Valgeir Sigurdsson.
Hákonarson's last feature film, Rams, won a numerous awards since its strong festival run began at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015, where it won the prestige Un Certain Regard Prize.
International sales for The County are being handled by New Europe Film Sales (jan@neweuropefilmsales.com).
A White, White Day
A White, White Day was written and directed by Hlynur Pálmason and had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where the lead actor, Ingvar Sigurdsson, won the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award in the Critics' Week section. Sigurdsson also won the Best Performance Award for his part in the film at Transilvania International Film Festival, and the film also won the main award (Propeller of Motovun) at the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia.
The film is set in a remote Icelandic town, where an off-duty police chief 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. A story of grief, revenge and unconditional love.
A White, White Day 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).