WOMAN AT WAR wins SACD Award at Cannes Critics' Week
Woman at War, the new feature from Benedikt Erlingsson, has won the SACD Award at Critics' Week, which is the oldest parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival.
The SACD Award is given annually by the French Society of Dramatic Actors and Composers to one of the competing feature films in Critics' Week, with the idea of promoting and encouraging emerging film authors. The award comes with a cash prize of €5,000 given to the film's authors, in this case writer/director Benedikt Erlingsson and co-writer Ólafur Egill Egilsson.
Woman at War tells the story of Halla, an independent woman in her late 40s, who declares war on the local aluminium industry. She'll risk anything to protect the Icelandic highlands, until an orphan unexpectedly enters her life.
The film has received very generous reviews, and Icelandic actress Halldóra Geirhardsdóttir's lead performance has received special mention.
Woman at War was directed by Benedikt Erlingsson and written by Erlingsson and Ólafur Egilsson. In addition to Geirhardsdóttir, the film stars Jóhann Sigurdarson, Davíd Thór Jónsson, Magnús Trygvason Eliassen, and Ómar Gudjónsson. The film is an Icelandic/French/Ukrainian coproduction and was produced by Marianne Slot, Benedikt Erlingsson, and Carine Leblanc, and coproduced by Serge Lavrenyuk, Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson, and Birgitta Björnsdóttir. The film was shot by Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson, edited by Davíd Alexander Corno, and the score was composed by Davíd Thór Jónsson.
International sales for Woman at War are being handled by Beta Cinema (thorsten.ritter@betacinema.com).
Three films with Icelandic ties have previously been selected for Critics' Week: Ingalo by Ásdís Thoroddsen in 1992, the Norwegian/Icelandic coproduction The Bothersome Man by Jens Lien in 2006, and the French/Icelandic short film Vikingar by Magali Magistry in 2013.
Photo: Fondation Gan pour le cinéma.