Hlynur Pálmason's THE LOVE THAT REMAINS selected for Cannes
Hlynur Pálmason's latest film, The Love That Remains, has been selected for the Cannes Premiere section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 13 - 24.
This is the second time a film by Pálmason has been selected for the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. In 2022, his film Godland competed in the Un Certain Regard section and went on to win numerous awards. The film was Iceland's submission for the 2024 Academy Awards and made the shortlist in the International Feature Film category. He also world-premiered his film A White, White Day in the Critics' Week section at Cannes in 2019.
The Love That Remains captures a year in the life of a family as parents navigate their separation. Through playful and heartfelt moments, the film portrays the bittersweet nature of faded love and shared memories amidst the changing seasons.
Hlynur Pálmason. ©Hildur Ýr Ómarsdóttir.
Pálmason is the first Icelandic director selected for the Cannes Premiere section, joining the ranks of esteemed filmmakers such as Fatih Akin, Sebastián Lelio, Takeshi Kitano, and Leos Carax. A record number of films, 2,909 in total, were submitted for Cannes this year. Cannes Premiere is a section created to provide a place in the official selection for films that the festival would have liked to screen in Competition but was unable to due to the limited number of berths in the main event.
"Congratulations to Hlynur Pálmason – who has clearly earned his place among Europe's leading filmmakers – and to the gifted team behind The Love That Remains," says Gísli Snær Erlingsson, Director of the Icelandic Film Centre. „We are immensely proud of this significant milestone, which further reinforces the strong position of Icelandic cinema at the Cannes Film Festival, where Icelandic films have been selected for screening at every edition since 2018."
In a statement, the producers of the film say: "We are beyond excited that The Love That Remains is part of the official selection at Cannes. We can't wait to share this intimate, heartfelt, and often funny portrait of a family with the world. It will move audiences and linger long after the credits roll. It's a Hlynur Pálmason film like no other."
The film is produced by Anton Máni Svansson of Iceland's STILL VIVID, and Katrin Pors of Denmark's Snowglobe. The cast includes Saga Garðarsdóttir (Balls, Woman at War), Sverrir Gudnason (Borg vs. McEnroe), Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir (Godland, A White, White Day), Þorgils Hlynsson (Nest), Grímur Hlynsson (Nest), Anders Mossling (The Kingdom), and Ingvar Sigurðsson (Godland, A White, White Day).
Co-producers are Mikkel Jersin and Eva Jakobsen at Snowglobe (Denmark), Nima Yousefi of HOBAB (Sweden), Didar Domehri of Maneki Films (France), Anthony Muir and Kristina Börjeson of Film I Väst (Sweden), Olivier Pere and Remi Burah of Arte France Cinema (France). Backers include Icelandic Film Centre, Icelandic Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs, Danish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Swedish Film Institute, Creative Europe MEDIA, Hornafjörður Municipality, RÚV, Jour2Fête, ARTE, Max Distribution, SVT, and DR.
New Europe Film Sales handles world sales, like for all previous Pálmason's films - Godland (Un Certain Regard, Cannes), A White, White Day (Critics' Week, Cannes), and Winter Brothers (Locarno main competition), as well as his latest short Nest (Berlinale Special).