Benedikt Erlingsson's WOMAN AT WAR selected for Cannes Critics' Week
Woman at War, the second feature from Icelandic writer/director Benedikt Erlingsson, has been selected for International Critics' Week, one of the parallel sections of the Cannes Film Festival, where it will have its world premiere. Critics' Week will take place May 9 – 17.
In Woman at War, Halla, an independent woman in her late 40s, declares war on the local aluminium industry. She'll risk anything to protect the Icelandic highlands, until an orphan unexpectedly enters her life.
Woman at War was directed by Benedikt Erlingsson and written by Erlingsson and Ólafur Egilsson. It stars Halldóra Geirhardsdóttir, Jóhann Sigurdarson, Davíd Thór Jónsson, Magnús Trygvason Eliassen and Ómar Gudjónsson. The film is an Icelandic/French/Ukrainian coproduction and was produced by Marianne Slot, Benedikt Erlingsson, and Carine Leblanc, and coproduced by Serge Lavrenyuk, Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson, and Birgitta Björnsdóttir. The film was shot by Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson, edited by Davíd Alexander Corno, and the score was composed by Davíd Thór Jónsson.
International sales for Woman at War are being handled by Beta Cinema (thorsten.ritter@betacinema.com).
As mentioned above, Woman at War is Benedikt Erlingsson's second feature. His first, Of Horses and Men, was released in 2013 and won a total of 19 awards worldwide, including the Nordic Council Film Prize and awards at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain, the Tokyo International Film Festival, and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
Three films with Icelandic ties have previously been selected for Critics' Week: Ingalo by Ásdís Thoroddsen in 1992, the Norwegian/Icelandic coproduction The Bothersome Man by Jens Lien in 2006, and the French/Icelandic short film Vikingar by Magali Magistry in 2013.