THE OATH selected for Official Selection at San Sebastian
The Oath, the new feature from Baltasar Kormákur, has been selected for the Official Selection at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, which will take place in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, from September 16 – 24. There it will compete for the festival's highest prize, the Golden Shell. The film will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier in September.
The Oath centers around Finnur, a successful heart surgeon and father of two. Finnur's family's life begins to unravel when his daughter, Anna, gets mixed up with a manipulative drug-dealing boyfriend. As the boyfriend's grip tightens around Anna and the entire family, Finnur is forced to take drastic measures.
The Oath is directed by Baltasar Kormákur (Jar City, The Deep, Everest) and written by Ólafur Egill Egilsson (Trapped) and Kormákur. It was produced by Magnús Vidar Sigurdsson and Kormákur for RVK Studios. It stars Baltasar Kormákur (101 Reykjavík, Reykjavík Rotterdam), Hera Hilmar (Life in a Fishbowl, Da Vinci's Demons) and Gísli Örn Gardarsson (Beowulf & Grendel, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time). The film was shot by Óttar Gudnason (A Little Trip to Heaven, Inhale), edited by Sigvaldi J. Kárason (Mamma Gógó, Trapped) and the score was composed by Hildur Gudnadóttir (A Hijacking, Trapped). International sales will be handled by XYZ Films.
In 2002, Kormákur's second feature, The Sea, was also a part of the Official Selection at San Sebastian.
Last year Rúnar Rúnarsson's Sparrows won the festival's Golden Shell for Best Film, kicking off a strong festival run during which it has won an additional 18 awards. In 2013 Benedikt Erlingsson won the Kutxa-New Directors award at the festival for his debut feature Of Horses and Men.