Special mention in Italy

Sparrows by Rúnar Rúnarsson was awarded a special mention by the Jury at the 10th Filmfestival del Garda  

Iceland submits SPARROWS for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar

The Icelandic Film and TV Academy has selected Rúnar Rúnarsson‘s Sparrows as Iceland‘s entry for the 2017 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Rúnarsson has previously had his short film The Last Farm nominated for Best Live Action Short Film Oscar in 2006.
Sparrows was written and directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson. It stars Atli Óskar Fjalarsson, Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, Rakel Björk Björnsdóttir and Kristbjörg Kjeld. It‘s score was composed by Kjartan Sveinsson and the film was produced by Nimbus Iceland and Pegasus Pictures. International sales are handled by Versatile Films.  Sparrows has had a strong festival run. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015 and has since won a total of 20 international awards, including the Golden Shell award for Best Film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival

Sparrows awarded in Frankfurt

The jury, that is made up equally of young film enthusiasts and film industry professionals, gave SPARROWS the award for the Best Feature Film 13+ at  the 39th LUCAS – International Festival for Young Filmlovers (18th-25th September 2016).

The actress Rakel Björk Björnsdóttir was in Frankfurt on behalf of the film.

SPARROWS makes selection list for European Film Awards

The European Film Academy has announced the 50 films that are recommended for nominations for the European Film Awards 2016. Among them is Rúnar Rúnarsson‘s Sparrows.

The following five films have been nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize 2016.

Under sandet (Land of Mine) – dir.: Mart­in Zand­vliet
Hymyilevä mies (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki) – dir.: Juho Kuosmanen 
Þrestir (Sparrows) – dir.: Rúnar Rúnarsson
Louder than Bombs – dir.: Joachim Trier
Efterskalv (The Here After) – dir.: Magnus van Horn

This is the thirteenth time that the Nordic Council Film Prize will be awarded.  The winners of the Nordic Council’s prizes will be announced and awarded at the DR Concert Hall in Copenhagen on 1 November.

Grand Prix / Lessinia d'oro

The International jury of the 22^nd Film Festival della Lessinia in Italy awarded the Grand Prix / Lessinia d'oro to “Sparrows” by Rúnar Rúnarsson.

The composer of the film, Kjartan Sveinsson accepted the awards on behalf of the film at the closing ceremony.

Official Selection in Jerusalem

The 33rd Jerusalem Film Festival (July 7-17) is to include a new international competition strand.
Jerusalem has confirmed that it has already locked in the first two titles for the new competition, Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s San Sebastian winner Sparrows, and Danish Oscar contender A War by Tobias Lindholm.
Overall, the new competitive section will showcase around 10 carefully chosen feature films and devote itself to presenting their Israeli premieres.
JFF artistic director Elad Samorzik noted that the new competition intends to screen films from all different countries and of all different cinematic persuasions, and that quality and artistic distinction would be the main criteria for selection.
Samorzik also specified that, starting at the Berlin Film Festival, he would be on the lookout for films with a proven track record on the international festival circuit and with audiences.
Noa Regev, director of both the Jerusalem Cinematheque and the Jerusalem Film Festival, stated: “International attendance is up in the last few years, and alongside that we’re seeking out new opportunities to add to the already significant body of prize categories.
“We’re really excited about what this means for the overall diversity and strength of the official selection and the compelling sidebar offerings we are currently expanding.”

Special Jury Award at Transilvania International Film Festival

Sparrows, the new feature from writer/director Rúnar Rúnarsson, won the Special Jury Award at the Transilvania International Film Festival in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Sparrows is in the middle of a strong festival run. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and shortly thereafter won the Golden Shell award for Best Film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain. It has also won for Best Film in the 1-2 Competition at the Warsaw Internatioanl Film Festival. In total, the film has won 17 international awards. 

                                            Rúnar Rúnarsson with Wieland Speck at TIFF

International Competition in Edinburgh

The line-up for the 70^th Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) has been unveiled this morning by artistic director Mark Adams and will take place June 15-26.
The competitive international competition highlights filmmaking from around the world that EIFF programmers term “imaginative, innovative and deserving of wider recognition”. All are UK premieres, except Bahman Naman and The Fundamentals Of Caring, which are European premireres. Titles include:

• The Actor, Satoko Yokohama (Jap)
• Bahman Naman, Q (Qaushiq Mukherjee) (Ind)
• A Conspiracy Of Faith, Hans Petter Moland (Den-Ger-Nor)
• The Fundamentals Of Caring, Rob Burnett (US)
• Go Home, Jihane Chouaib (Fra-Swi-Bel)
• Halal Love (And Sex), Assad Fouladkar (Ger-Leb)
• Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Taika Waititi (NZ)
• The Lure, Agnieszka Smoczynska (Pol)
• Saint Amour, Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kerven (Fra-Bel)
• Sand Storm, Elite Zexer (Isr)
• Sparrows, Runar Runarsson (Ice-Den-Cro)
• Suntan, Argyris Papadimitropoulos (Gre)

OFFICIAL SELECTION IN CLUJ

Sparrows by Runar Runarsson has been selected for The Official Competition of Transilvania International Film Festival (May 27-June 5)
more info

OFFICIAL SELECTION

The Seattle International Film Festival, the largest and most highly attended festival in the United States, announced today the complete lineup of films, guests, and events for the 42nd annual 25-day Festival (May 19 - June 12, 2016).
“This year’s Festival is bursting at the seams with extraordinary talent and revelatory, exciting stories from all over the world,” says Carl Spence, SIFF Festival Director and Chief Curator. “We have more World, North American, and US premieres than ever before, as always bringing Seattle audiences the first opportunity to experience cinematic discoveries and essential masterpieces from all points of view.”
Sparrows by Runar Runarsson is among 13 films slected to the SIFF’s longstanding juried competitions for New Directors. more info

The French Trailer

ASC Distribution that are releasing Runar Runarsson Sparrows in France on july 13th. have launched the French trailer for the film  www.ascdistribution.com

Hungarian release the 21. April

The Sparrows poster for the Hungarian release on 21st of April by Cinefil Co / Magyarország

Official Selection in Valence

Sparrows has been selected for the International competition of the 19th Le Festival International des Scénaristes 2016 that takes place in Valence / France. more info

France release on July 13th

ASC Distribution are handling the french rights to release Runar Runnarsson's Sparrows in France on july 13th. www.ascdistribution.com

Sparrows in Mexico

The Mexican distribution company Alphaville Cinema has secured the local rights for Sparrows. Its distributed under the name "Despegando a la Vida"

THE WINNER IN PRAGUE

Sparrows was this evening announced the winner of the 23th INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PRAGUE - FEBIOFEST by the jury.
More info

Official Selection in Lucca

Sparrows has been selected for the International competition of Lucca Film Festival that takes place between the 3rd and the 10th of April. This will be the Italian premiere. More info

Hungarian release the 21. April

Sparrows has a Hungarian release the 21st of April by Cinefil Co / Magyarország More info

Grand Prix in Mamers

The Jury of the 29th edition of the European Film Festival in Mamers awarded the Grand prix for the best film to Sparrows. More info