More accolades for RAMS, SPARROWS, VIRGIN MOUNTAIN and YOU AND ME
Accolades continue to roll in for Icelandic features Rams, Virgin Mountain and Sparrows, which between them won a total of six awards over the weekend. The short film You and Me also won an award.
Rams
Grímur Hákonarson's Rams won the Golden Alexander Theo Angelopoulos for Best Film at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece, which is one of the oldest and most respected film events in the Balkan region.
Hákonarson wasn't able to accept the award in person but instead sent the following remarks:
“First I would like to say that I really admire this festival and I'm very sad that I couldn't be here tonight. I would like to thank the jury and I would like to thank the festival director Dimitri Eipides. He has contributed a lot to the Icelandic cinema as a programmer and one of the cornerstones of Reykjavik International Film Festival for many years. I also would like to thank our Greek distributor AMA Films and I hope that the film will be well received when it comes to cinemas in Greece.
“Rams is a personal film. It took me five years to make it and I put my heart and soul into this film. I think you can feel that when you watch it. My family comes from the countryside in South Iceland and I made Rams for my ancestors, my grandfather and my mother.
“Rams is about the importance of human relationships in difficult times. Even though the main characters are stubborn Icelandic sheep farmers, the film has a universal message that is especially relevant on this day.”
Rams also won two awards at the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad in Belarus: the Audience Award and a Special Prize from the Minsk city council. Actor Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, who was a special guest of the festival, accepted the award on behalf of Rams' cast and crew.
Finally, director Grímur Hákonarson received an honorary award for his contributions to Nordic filmmaking at the the Northern Film Festival in Leuuwarden in the Netherlands. Three of Hákonarson's films were screened at the festival: Rams, The Laxá Farmers and A Pure Heart.
Rams is still in the middle of a strong festival run that began with winning the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May. To date, the film has received a total of 18 awards.
Sparrows
Rúnar Rúnarsson's Sparrows also found success at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, where it won the Artistic Achievement Award.
Sparrows had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and won the Golden Shell award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. To date, the film has won six awards.
Virgin Mountain
Dagur Kári's Virgin Mountain, the recent winner of the Nordic Council Film Prize, won two awards at the Arras International Film Festival in France: Best Film and a Special Mention for Best Actor for the lead performance by Gunnar Jónsson.
After premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival last February, Virgin Mountain has gone on to win 11 awards, including 3 at the Tribeca International Film Festival.
You and Me
You and Me, Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir's second short film, won the Regional Council of Brittany award for a European film at the Brest European Short Film Festival in France.
You and Me premiered in September at Nordisk Panorama in Malmö, Sweden. It previously won Best Icelandic Short at the Northern Wave International Film Festival in Grundarfjördur, Iceland.