Four more awards for HEARTSTONE
Heartstone, writer/director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson‘s debut feature, has recently won four awards. It won the Special Jury Award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece, the NDR Film Prize at Nordic Film Days Luebeck in Germany, the Politiken Audience Award at CPH:PIX in Copenhagen, Denmark and the Ocaña Award to Freedom at the Sevilla European Film Festival in Spain. The film has now won a total of 12 international awards.
Heartstone had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, where it won the Queer Lion Award. It has since taken part at plenty of prestigious film festivals, including Toronto, Busan in South Korea, Warsaw and Chicago.
About the film
Heartstone is set in a remote fishing village in Iceland. Teenage boys Thor and Christian experience a turbulent summer as one tries to win the heart of a girl while the other discovers new feelings toward his best friend. When summer ends and the harsh nature of Iceland reclaims its rightful place, it's time for the boys to leave the playground and face the acrimony of adulthood.
Heartstone was written and directed by Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson. It was produced by Anton Máni Svansson and Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson for Join Motion Pictures and Lise Orheim Stender and Jesper Morthorst for the Danish production company SF Studios Production. The film was shot by the Norwegian cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, edited by the Danes Anne Østerud and Janus Billeskov Jansen, and the score was composed by the Dane Kristian Eidnes Andersen. International sales are being handled by the Berlin-based Films Boutique.
The film was made with support from the Icelandic Film Centre, the Danish Film Institute and Eurimages.
Heartstone stars the promising young actors Baldur Einarsson, Blaer Hinriksson, Diljá Valsdóttir, Katla Njálsdóttir, Jónína Thórdís Karlsdóttir, Rán Ragnarsdóttir, Daníel Hans Erlendsson, Theodór Pálsson and Sveinn Sigurbjörnsson. The young cast is ably supported by veterans Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir, Søren Malling and Gunnar Jónsson.
In recent years Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson has garnered considerable notice for his award-winning short films, most notably Whale Valley. Among Whale Valley's 45 international awards is a special mention in the main competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
For more information about Heartstone, visit its Facebook page and the Icelandic Film Database.