HEARTSTONE wins three awards in Kiev
Heartstone, the debut feature from Icelandic writer/director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson's, won three awards at the Molodist Kyiv International Film – the audience award, the Fipresci Critics Awarad and a special mention for main actor Baldur Einarsson. Producer Anton Máni Svansson was in Kiev to accept the awards.
This rounds up a really good month for the film – but previously in October the film picked up three awards in the main competitive section of the Warsaw Film Festival in Poland and won the Gold Q Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Since premiering in the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival in September, Hearstone has raked up eight international awards.
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.
For more information about writer/director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson, visit the Icelandic Film Database.