LAMB is Iceland's Oscar entry for 2022
The Icelandic Film and Television Academy has selected Valdimar Jóhannsson's Lamb to be Iceland's official entry in the Best International Feature Film category for the 2022 Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the nominated films on February 8, 2022, and the 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27, 2022.
Lamb, which premiered in the Un Certain Regard program at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Prize of Originality, is a supernatural drama about an Icelandic couple who live with their herd of sheep on a beautiful but remote farm. When they discover a mysterious newborn on their land, they decide to keep it and raise it as their own. This unexpected development, and the prospects of a new family, brings them much joy before ultimately destroying them.
In its justification for its unanimous selection of Lamb, the Icelandic jury states: "The director and his artistic collaborators manage to create an especially captivating story and mood that straddles the unclear boundaries between realism, horror, and fantasy. The imagery is strong and the material is presented in an extremely daring and original way. From the first moment, the viewer is pulled in and then led on a mysterious and exciting adventure, but the story is also a thoughtful study of human nature, grief, and loss."
Lamb was directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson, written by Jóhannsson and the acclaimed Icelandic poet, novelist, and screenwriter Sjón (who also co-wrote Robert Eggers' upcoming The Northman), and stars Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snær Gudnason, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, and Ingvar E. Sigurdsson. It was shot by Eli Arenson and edited by Agnieszka Glińska. The sound was designed by Ingvar Lundberg and Björn Viktorsson, and the score was composed by Thórarinn Gudnason.
The film is an Iceland/Sweden/Poland coproduction. It was produced by Hrönn Kristinsdóttir and Sara Nassim at Iceland's Go to Sheep, Piodor Gustafsson and Erik Rydell at Sweden's Black Spark Film & TV, and Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska and Jan Naszewski at Poland's Madants. It was coproduced by Film i Väst, Chimney Sweden, and Chimney Poland, in association with Rabbit Hole Productions and Helgi Jóhannsson. The film was supported by the Icelandic Film Centre, the Swedish Film Institute, the Polish Film Institute, Iceland's Ministry of Industries and Innovation, Eurimages, and the Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
Lamb is still in the middle of an impressive festival run and is currently showing on more than 800 screens in the United States, where it is on its way toward becoming one of the most-viewed Icelandic films of all time.
International sales for Lamb are being handled by New Europe Film Sales (jan@neweuropefilmsales.com).
Additional credits for the film can be found here.