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PRODUCTION Iceland / France

Anspach prepares Back Soon

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Final preparations are underway on Icelandic/French co-production Back Soon (Skrapp ut) by Sólveig Anspach, with the director’s third feature set to begin lensing on April 16 in Reykjavík.

Paris-based Icelandic/American Anspach has brought together a cast featuring Didda Jónsdóttir, star of Stormy Weather, a title that screened in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Jónsdóttir will be joined on screen by her two sons.

Other cast members include France’s Julien Cottereau (Haut les Cœurs!, the director’s feature debut, which won Karin Viard Best Actress at the 2000 Cesars), Irish actress Joy Doyle (Jane by the Sea) and an American actor whose name has yet to be revealed.

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Co-scripted by the director and Jean-Luc Gaget, Back Soon follows Anna (Jónsdóttir) who, fed up with the cold Icelandic climate, decides to sell her business and leave the island with her two sons. Her business is none other than the sale of the best marijuana in the country, for which she wants a good price from the buyer. She has programmed her departure within 48 hours of the sale.

While waiting, clients arrive in droves to her house and she makes a series of unexpected and off-the-wall encounters. "It’s a comedy that is a little surreal, a very funny story," Anspach told Cineuropa. "The film has a very small budget because there is no star, no bankable actor so to speak, and it will be shot in Icelandic. Either I did it this way or I made it in English with a larger budget. I took what was the most ethical decision and one that also proved the most aesthetic because Icelandic is an amazing language. Since Haut les Cœurs !, my projects have had increasingly smaller budgets, but I’m going to make the film I want to make. Back Soon received no pre-sales from broadcasters, but I did get the highest ever advances on receipts granted to an Icelandic film, €620,000, an extraordinary amount for a country of 300,000."

Music plays a dominant role in Back Soon and features many avant-garde Icelandic artists and a soundtrack by Martin Wheeler.

A 78% production by Icelandic outfit Zik Zak Filmworks, Back Soon is a 22% co-production by France’s Ex Nihilo, regular partners of the director.

In addition to Eurimages funding of €200,000, the title also received €120,000 for foreign-language films from the CNC. This funding is open to features that present clear artistic qualities but do not qualify for advances on receipts for linguistic reasons, although an application was said to be made by a French producer.

Back Soon will have a six-week shoot and Bac Films will handle the film’s French release in 2008.

Negotiations on international sales are still underway.

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(Translated from French)

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