Hlynur Pálmason scores a hat trick in San Sebastián
Icelandic filmmaker and visual artist Hlynur Pálmason features prominently at this year's San Sebastián International Film Festival, where he presents two films in competition while also being honored with a solo exhibition at Tabakalera, the city's international center for contemporary art.
Hlynur's latest work, Joan of Arc, a 62 minute film with close ties to his feature film The Love That Remains, will have its world premiere in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section.
Joan of Arc follows three siblings who craft a knight-like figure, only to unleash a barrage of arrows upon it. The film observes their lives through the seasons as they both construct and demolist their lifelike creation.
The Love That Remains will be screened in the festival's Perlak section, which showcases the best films of the year that have not yet been released in Spain. Other filmmakers represented in this year's Perlak program include Richard Linklater, Yorgos Lanthimos, Joachim Trier, and Noah Baumbach.
This firmly establishes Hlynur's position as one of the leading filmmakers of the festival. At the same time, Tabakalera is presenting a major solo exhibition that highlight his dual career as a filmmaker and visual artist.
“It is a great honor to be invited to take part in the San Sebastián Festival with two films and an exhibition. It's an opportunity to show how my work at the intersection of film and visual art speaks to each other and opens up new possibilities for storytelling,” says Hlynur Pálmason.
Hlynur has previously found success at San Sebastián, one of Europe's key film festivals. His last film, Godland (Volaða Land, 2022), won the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award in 2022, and his short film Nest (Hreiður) was also screened there. He now further consolidates his reputation as one of the leading Nordic filmmakers.
Joan of Arc is produced by Anton Máni Svansson for STILL VIVID (Iceland), in collaboration with Katrin Pors for Snowglobe (Denmark).
The main cast includes Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Þorgils Hlynsson, and Grímur Hlynsson.
The film is co-produced by Mikkel Jersin of Snowglobe (Denmark) and Didar Domehri of Maneki Films (France).
The film is produced with funding from the Icelandic Film Centre, with additional backing from the the Danish Film Institute, SASS, and CNC.
International sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales, as with Hlynur's previous films.
The 73rd San Sebastián International Film Festival takes place from 19–27 September