29/09/2006

Children [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], directed by 35 year-old Ragnar Bragason, has been selected as Iceland’s entry for this year’s Oscars nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
The film was very well received at San Sebastian when it screened last week in the Zabaltegi-New Directors section (see news). Children is the first of two films (to be followed by Parents) exploring the roles of children and parents. Bragason’s second feature film following his award-winning Fiasco (2000) was co-written by the director and lead actors Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, with the entire cast taking inspiration from Mike Leigh and John Cassavetes’ methods of working with actors.

Shot in black and white, the film is a snapshot of three families living on the fringes of society in Reykjavik. It was produced by Vesturport (Iceland’s most innovative company of theatre artists) in cooperation with Artbox, Klikk Productions and Köggull Filmworks. The film opened in Iceland on September 9 and is being sold internationally by London-based The Works. Parents will be released next January. The five official nominations for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film will be announced on January 23 and the Oscars ceremony will take place on February 25 in Hollywood.