Iceland submits A WHITE, WHITE DAY for Best International Feature Film Oscar
The Icelandic Film and TV Academy has selected Hlynur Pálmason‘s A White, White Day as Iceland‘s entry for the 2020 Best International Feature Film Oscar. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the ten shortlisted films in December of this year and the five nominated films will be announced on January 13 of 2020. The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on February 9, 2020.
A White, White Day is set in a remote Icelandic town, where Ingvar Sigurdsson plays the role of Ingimundur, an off-duty police chief who 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. The film is a story of grief, revenge, and unconditional love.
The film was written and directed by Hlynur Pálmason and stars Ingvar Sigurdsson, 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.
The film had it's world premiere at the International Critics' Week, the oldest parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival, where Sigurdsson won the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for his performance in the film. Sigurdsson also won the Best Performance Award at Transylvania International Film Festival and the film won the main award at the Motovun Film Festival. A White, White Day was recently nominated for this year's Nordic Council Film Prize and made this year's selection list for the European Film Awards.
Both the film and Sigurdsson's performance have received very generous praises in reviews from Screen International, Cineuropa, and The Hollywood Reporter. In Screen International it said: “Ingimundur is a fascinating character, splendidly portrayed by Ingvar Sigurðsson.”
The film was produced by Anton Máni Svansson and executive produced by Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson from Iceland's Join Motion Pictures. It 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.
International sales for A White, White Day are being handled by New Europe Film Sales (jan@neweuropefilmsales.com).