Rúnar Rúnarsson Readies ‘O’ With Icelandic Star Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Shares Trailer of ‘When the Light Breaks’(EXCLUSIVE)

Annika Pham
·3 min read
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Paris-based The Party Film Sales and Heather Millard of Iceland’s Compass Films have reunited with “When the Light Breaks” director Rúnar Rúnarsson on his next poetic filmic venture “O.”

The Icelandic film “When the Light Breaks” is due to open Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section May 15.
Headlining Iceland’s major international star Ingvar E. Sigurðsson (“A White, White Day,” “Fantastic Beasts, the Crimes of Grindelwald”), the 20-minute film “O” is a “humanistic and poetic story of a fragile man, trying to achieve a simple task where his main obstacle is within himself,” according to the official logline.

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“We’re very excited to also accompany Rúnar on his new short film,” said The Party Film Sales’ Samuel Blanc. “O” and “When the Light Breaks” have a lot in common and resonate with each other. We’re confident distributors will be interested in programming both films in tandem: in the frame of special screenings, TV and platforms runs, or even for traditional theatrical exhibition,” he said.

Filmed in Iceland last summer, and reuniting some heads of department of “When the Light Breaks” – DP Sophia Olsson and set designer Hulda Helgadóttir – ‘O’ is currently in post-production.

“We actually shot ‘O’ before “When the Light Breaks” as we needed the same quality of light, but just finished it now, as we had to juggled with both productions at the same time,” said Millard, who emphasises Rúnarsson’s versatile and unique filmmaking talent, whatever the format. “In all of Rúnar’s films, you can feel they are built upon strong personal stories, which are able to draw us into the vulnerabilities of his character,” she noted.

Millard is producing with Rúnarsson’s Halibut, in co-production with Sweden’s Film, pubcaster SVT and regional film fund Film i Väst. Mike Downey, co-producer of “When the Light Breaks,” is executive producing.

“Rúnar is one of the most original voices across all cinematic forms, in Europe and beyond. It’s always a total inspiration to work with someone so creative and who gets the very best from all his collaborators,” said Downey who also serves as chairman of the European Film Academy.

One of Iceland’s hottest directors on the international festival circuit and arthouse stage, Rúnarsson was Oscar nominated for his short film “The Last Farm” (2006), part of his crossroads trilogy with the 2008 Palme d’or short film entry “2 Birds” and 2009 short “Anna,” selected at the Directors’ Fortnight. Two years later Rúnarsson was back at the Cannes parallel sidebar with his debut feature “Volcano,”  Iceland’s Oscar candidate in 2011.

Meanwhile on eve of the Cannes red carpet launch of “When the Light Breaks,” The Party Film Sales and Compass Films have shared in exclusivity with Variety the trailer of the film, which captures a young woman’s emotional roller-coaster as she encounters love, friendship, sorrow and beauty, all within 24 hours.

The clip sneak peeks the talent of the young actor Elín Hall, cast in Rúnarsson’s previous film “Echo,” as well as the luminous photography of Rúnarsson’s long-time collaborator Olsson (credited for two episodes of “The Crown”) and the film’s endearing score, based on the music composed earlier by the late Oscar-nominated Jóhann Jóhannsson (“Sicario,” “The Theory of Everything”).

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