SPARROWS wins Best Film at San Sebastián

Sparrows, Rúnar Rúnarsson's most recent feature, has won the Golden Shell award for Best Film at the prestigious San Sebastián International Film Festival in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain. Rúnarsson, along with producer Mikkel Jersin and co-producer Lilja Ósk Snorradóttir, accepted the award at the festival's closing ceremony on September 26.
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44th Festival du nouveau cinéma

Sparrows, an Icelandic-Danish-Croatian coproduction that recently awarded Best Film at the San Sebastian Film Festival, directed by Runar Runarsson, will be screened in the Panorama programme.

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SPARROWS by Rúnar Rúnarsson is one of 16 titles that will take part in 
1-2 Competition for the best debut or second feature film at 31st Warsaw 
Film Festival. The International Jury consisting of

- Katarzyna Jungowska, director and producer from Poland, 
winner of Janusz "Kuba" Morgenstern "Perspective" Award for the film '
Fanciful' (WFF 2014)

- Zornitsa Sophia, the director from Bulgaria, her directorial debut, 
'Mila from Mars' (WFF 2004) won the Grand Prix in Sarajevo, 
and several other awards;

- Elad Keidan, writer and director from Israel, 
winner of the Cinefondation Competition at Cannes (2008); 
his feature debut 'Afterthought' premiered this year in Cannes, and will 
participate at the WFF in uncompetitive Special Screenings section;.

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OFFICIAL SELECTION IN CHICAGO

The longest running competitive film festival in North America , The Chicago International Film Festival (Oct 15-29, 2015) announced that Sparrows is in the lineup for its New Directors Competition.

“For over 50 years the Chicago International Film Festival has been devoted to the discovery of new voices in filmmaking. This competition truly embodies that spirit,” says Programming Director Mimi Plauché. “The New Directors Competition is always very exciting, as it showcases rising talents from around the world.”
"Another one that I was so thrilled about — it just had its world premiere at San Sebastian — is Sparrows. We have three great Icelandic films this year, actually, and this is one of them. Did you see Volcano? It's Rúnar Rúnarsson. It was one of my favorite films that year, so it's his next film. It's a coming-of-age story about a teenage boy who gets dropped in small town Iceland. It's the town that he was born in, but his parents divorced, and he's been subsequently living in Reykjavík and is forced to go back and live with his father in this town where he no longer has a place. So it's about him figuring out how to assert who he is and find his place. It's beautifully told.  "

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SCREENING TIMES AT TIFF

Vancouver International Film Festival 2015

    
    Vancouver International Film Festival will be screening Sparrows in this years edition 
    of Cinema of Our Time.

A spectacular showcase of narrative films from around the globe, featuring both today's masters and tomorrow's visionaries.

With a selection of works from more than 30 countries—including of all the major film producing nations—Cinema of Our Time is the place to see the very best films from the leading auteurs of our time, award winners from the most prestigious film festivals such as Cannes and Berlin, and exclusive premieres of some of the most highly anticipated features that will hit cinemas next year.

"Gripping and quietly powerful, director Rúnar Rúnarsson sophomore displays a disarming emotional tenderness while never tempering its dark truths. At its heart, Sparrows is a searing story of love, loss and finding your way. But discovering your direction in life can be a trial when you’re stuck in world where you don’t belong." 

Sparrows is on the THE MUST SEE list of Montreals Van Ramblings with the grade A


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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.

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OFFICIAL SELECTION RIFF

Rúnar Rúnarsson, new feature film, Sparrows will have it’s Icelandic Premiere on RIFF on September 30^th . 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.