18/05/2003 - Set in the harsh climate of Iceland, the film explores the dilemma faced by a psychiatrist having to choose between compassion and therapy

Stormy Weather [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the second feature film by Solveig Anspach, a native of Iceland who's lived in France for the last twenty years, was screened in Un Certain Regard today.
It is the story of a Belgian psychiatrist’s trip to Iceland to visit a patient of hers, played by Icelandic writer and poet Didda Jonsdottir in a powerful acting debut, who lives on a harsh volcanic outcrop called Vestmannaeyjar (Anspach’s birthplace). The film allows Anspach to explore the contradictions that result from the clash between professional reasoning and human sentiments.
“I went from an inward-looking comtemplative film like Haut les coeurs! to one that explores compassion, psychiatry and the weather,” said Anspace.
Made with a Euros1.5m budget, this was not an easy film to get made but Anspach achieved her dream thanks to a Franco-Belgian-Icelandic co-production effort that featured Icelandic actor-director Baltasar Kormàkur and his Blueyes Production slate and Belgium’s Dardennes brothers and their Les Films du Fleuve.
French outfit, Mercure International, are handling world sales.

(Translated from Italian)