Europe, Now! - Rúnar Rúnarsson's works at Bergamo Film Meeting
Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson is one of three protagonists of "Europe, Now!", the Bergamo Film Meeting section focusing on contemporary European cinema.
The 38th edition of Bergamo Film Meeting will take place from March 7 - 15 in Italy. In addition to Rúnarsson, the exploration of contemporary European cinema will also focus on the works of João Nicolau from Portugal and Danis Tanović from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The section will showcase the complete works of these three filmmakers, all characterized by a particular attention to the turmoil of individuals immersed in the contradictions of society, at the mercy of turbulent generational problems, and torn by the complexities of socio-political conflicts.
From 1995 to 2004 Rúnarsson directed several short films (Toilet Culture, 1995; Rat Race, 1997; Oiko Logos, 1997; The Collector, 1998; Hringur, 1998; Roots, 2000; Searching for Rajeev, 2002; Bragur, 2004) experimenting with styles, formats and techniques, shooting in VHS, 16mm, DVCam and Super8. With Síðasti bærinn (The Last Farm, 2004), a short film scored by Sigur Rós keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson, he received an Oscar nomination. Smáfuglar (2 Birds, 2008), selected at Cannes, takes place during a bright summer night and follows a group of teenagers on their journey into adulthood. Also presented at Cannes, Anna (2009) features a 12-year-old girl who lives in a small fishing village.
Volcano (2011) - a love story with a sixty year old man going through an existential crisis as a protagonist- marked his feature film debut and his return to Cannes in the Quinzaine des réalisateurs; the film was also chosen to represent Iceland at the Oscars and won several international awards.
He represented Iceland again at the Oscars in 2015 with Sparrows, a film very well received in the international festivals circuit that also won the award for the best film in São Paulo, San Sebastian and Warsaw. The same year, Rúnar Rúnarsson received the Silver Hugo for best new director at the Chicago International Film Festival. Here the protagonist is sixteen year old Ari, forced to move from Reykjavik to his father and grandmother's godforsaken small town, facing the difficulties of fitting in a new community.
His latest work, Echo (2019) presented in Italian preview at Bergamo Film Meeting, debuted at the Locarno Festival. 56 scenes of everyday life set during Christmas, an original fresco of a society at times surreal, arranged by the director into a kaleidoscopic mix of images.
Rúnar Rúnarsson will attend the Festival.