Friday, August 28, 2015

SPARROWS TRAILER



The international trailer for Runar Runarsson’s second feature, Sparrows is out.
The film will have its world premiere on Sept 11 at Toronto as part of the Contemporary World Cinema strand.
The Iceland-Denmark-Croatia co-production is about Ari, a 16-year-old boy who has to leave his home with his mother in Reykjavik to move back to his former hometown, in the beautiful but isolated Westfjords of Iceland.
He has to navigate a rocky relationship with his father as well as the childhood friends who have grown up quickly.
The cast features Ingvar Sigurdsson (Jar City), Atli Óskar Fjalarsson and Rakel Björk Björnsdóttir. Denmark’s Mikkel Jersin (who was one of Screen International’s Future Leaders 2015) produces for Nimbus.
Versatile handles international sales.
Runarsson’s debut feature Volcano drew strong reviews at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2011.

OFFICIAL POSTER


Wednesday, August 26, 2015

OFFICIAL SELECTION RIFF


Rúnar Rúnarsson, new feature film, Sparrows will have it’s Icelandic Premiere on RIFF on September 30th . Rúnars work will be in the New Visions competition which features the first and the second work of directors. Rúnars first film Volcano won two awards in that category in 2011. Sparrows will have it’s premiere on Toronto Film Festival in September where it will participate in the Contemporary World Cinema category. It has also been released that the film will participate in the main category on the San Sebastian film festival. The film will then be released in the middle of October in Iceland.

OFFICIAL SELECTION TORONTO

Rúnar Rúnarsson brings his story of a broken father-son relationship, "Sparrows," to the Toronto Film Festival, where it will be celebrating its world premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema programme.
Revealing a new wave of films for their upcoming 40th edition, the Toronto Film Festival has named Rúnar Rúnarsson's "Sparrows" as part of their Contemporary World Cinema line-up. This marks the world premiere of the Icelandic director's new drama, which explores the emotions intrinsic to life's difficult changes through the story of Ari and his estranged father.
A few weeks back, the San Sebastian Film Festival announced the film as part of their line-up. Read Sparrows flying to San Sebastian
"Sparrows" follows Ari, 16, who has been living with his mother in Reykjavik and is suddenly sent back to the remote Westfjords to live with his father Gunnar. Here he has to navigate a difficult relationship with his father, and he finds his childhood friends changed. In these hopeless and declining surroundings, Ari has to step up and find his way.
"The poetic part and the emotions tell the story. That's something that intrigues me more than plot," says the director in our festival interview, which will be online on these pages from next week.
Ari is played by Atli Óskar Fjalarsson, while Gunnar is embodied by Ingvar E. Sigurðsson. The cast also includes Kristbjörg Kjeld, Björk Björnsdóttir and Croatian-born Hollywood actor Rade Šerbedžija ("Downton Abbey").


"Sparrows" is written by Rúnarsson, a graduate of the National Film School of Denmark. His feature debut "Volcano" (2011) premiered in the Cannes Festival's Directors' Fortnight side bar, and his student films "2Birds" (2008) and "Anna" (2009) were also selected for Cannes. Rúnarsson received an Oscar nomination for his short film "Last Farm" (2004).

The crew behind the camera includes editor Jacob Schulsinger and cinematographer Sophia Olsson, and producer is Mikkel Jersin for Nimbus Film and Nimbus Iceland, in a co-production partnership with Pegasus Pictures and MP Films.
Read Mikkel Jersin's account from Iceland At Nature's Mercy in Iceland
"Sparrows" is supported by the Danish Film Institute, the Icelandic Film Center, the Croatian Audiovisual Center, Nordisk Film & TV Fund, the Icelandic Ministry of Industries and Innovation, Sena, RUV, TV 2 and SF. Paris-based Versatile Films is handling international sales.

OFFICIAL SELECTION SAN SEBASTIAN

Rúnar Rúnarsson's second feature film, "Sparrows," will be competing at this year's San Sebastian Film Festival 18-26 September.
Rúnar Rúnarsson, a graduate of the National Film School of Denmark, premiered his feature debut "Volcano" at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight in 2011. Now the Icelandic director is releasing his second film, Sparrows, as part of the competition line-up at the San Sebastian Film Festival taking place in September.
"Sparrows" is a drama about Ari, 16, who has been living with his mother in Reykjavik and is suddenly sent back to the remote Westfjords to live with his father Gunnar. Here he has to navigate a difficult relationship with his father, and he finds his childhood friends changed. In these hopeless and declining surroundings, Ari has to step up and find his way.
"I think Rúnarsson touches on something that feels true to audiences all over the world," says Mikkel Jersin, the film's producer. "Even though the story takes place in the remote Westfjords, it portrays strong themes that most people can relate to – themes of father-son relationships, adolescence and love." Read interview with Mikkel Jersin At Nature's Mercy in Iceland
Young Ari is played by Atli Óskar Fjalarsson, his father by Ingvar E. Sigurðsson. The cast also includes Kristbjörg Kjeld, Björk Björnsdóttir and Croatian-born Hollywood actor Rade Šerbedžija ("Downton Abbey").
"Sparrows" is written by Rúnarsson, whose feature debut "Volcano" (2011) was warmly received at the Cannes Festival's distinguished side bar Directors' Fortnight. His short film "Last Farm" (2004) was nominated for an Oscar, while the director's two student films, "2Birds" (2008) and "Anna" (2009), took home multiple awards and were selected for the Cannes Festival.
The crew behind the camera includes editor Jacob Schulsinger and cinematographer Sophia Olsson, and producer is Mikkel Jersin for Nimbus Film and Nimbus Iceland, in a co-production partnership with Pegasus Pictures and MP Films. "Sparrows" is supported by the Danish Film Institute, the Icelandic Film Center, the Croatian Audiovisual Center, Nordisk Film & TV Fund, the Icelandic Ministry of Industries and Innovation, Sena, RUV, TV 2 and SF. Paris-based Versatile Films is handling international sales.