KONA FER Í STRÍÐ

Iceland, France, Ukraine

Synopsis

Halla declares a one-woman-war on the local aluminium industry. She is prepared to risk everything to protect the pristine Icelandic Highlands she love s… Until an orphan unexpectedly enters her life.

Director's Statement

This movie is meant to be an heroic tale set in our world of imminent threat. An heroic tale told as an adventure. A serious fairy tale told with a smile.

Our hero serves in this world as a kind of Artemis, the protector of the untouched and wild. Alone, facing a quickly changing planet, she assumes the role of saving mother earth and its future generations. Our point of view is very close to our hero’s, which is how and why we access her inner life.

There is a book by Astrid Lindgren called The Brothers Lionheart, in which we have this dialogue between the two brothers:

But then Jonathan said that there were certain things you have to do, even if they were difficult and dangerous.
"Why is that?" I asked, surprised.
"Otherwise you´re not really a person, just a little shit.”
This is a film about a woman striving to be a real person.

Director's Biography

Benedikt Erlingsson is an Icelandic director, author and actor. Erlingsson is well known as a stage director as well as for his roles in theatre, TV series and films. His solo performances are some of the most successful in the history of Icelandic theatre and were performed on stage by Erlingsson himself for six years. OF HORSES AND MEN, Erlingsson’s first feature film as a writer-director, won over 20 international awards including the New Directors prize at the 2013 San Sebastián Film Festival and the 2014 Nordic Council Film Prize. Benedikt Erlingsson is a 2016 Gan Foundation for Cinema award winner.

Filmography:
as writer/director
2018 - WOMAN AT WAR
2013 - OF HORSES AND MEN
2008 - THE NAIL, short
2007 - THANKS, short

as writer
2000 - WORMSTONGUE - A LOVE STORY, TV film
1997 - BLOOD-BROTHERS, TV series
 | 

Cast & Crew

Directed by: Benedikt Erlingsson

Written by: Benedikt Erlingsson, Olafur Egill Egilsson

Produced by: Marianne Slot, Benedikt Erlingsson, Carine Leblanc

Cinematography: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson

Editing: David Alexander Corno

Production Design: Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson

Costume Design: Sylvia Dögg Halldórsdóttir

Make-Up & Hair: Dominique Rabout, Joséphine Hoy

Original Score: Davíð Þór Jónsson

Sound Design: François de Morant

Visual Effects: Annabelle Zoellin

Cast: Davíð Þór Jónsson (pianist / accordeon band), Magnús Trygvason Eliassen (drummer), Ómar Guðjónsson (sousaphone), Juan Camillo Roman Estrada (Juan Camillo), Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir (Halla / Ása), Jóhann Sigurðarson (Sveinbjörn)

Nominations and Awards

  • European Actress 2018
  • Feature Film Selection 2018