Salt

Colour, 35 mm
Iceland, 2002, 82 min
Section: Another View
Oficiální stránky: www.filmsalt.com

Synopsis

The story takes place in a forgotten little town on the east coast of Iceland. Three young people are the protagonists – sisters Hildur and Svava and the latter’s boyfriend Aggi. The sisters grew up in the little town and they work with their mother at a fish processing plant. Hildur’s intense and very close relationship to her sister is disturbed when Svava moves to Reykjavik. Hildur and Aggi decide to visit Svava, but when their car breaks down in a different town; the trip suddenly and unexpectedly ends. While waiting for the car to be repaired they get to know each other and themselves better. This simple documentary-like story excels for having captured the rawness and beauty of a landscape which influences the character and behaviour of the protagonists. The director commented: “The main character was amazingly brought to life when I met Brynja Thora Gudnadottir. Brynja´s natural understanding for the character convinced me to shoot the film with non-actors and to use a more documentary approach. With this in mind, many of the scenes for the film evolved while shooting.”

About the director

Bradley Rust Gray was born in Ohio and raised in Florida. He studied architecture, art and film in Alabama, Chicago, London, Reykjavik and Los Angeles. His short film hITCH was awarded at Sundance and was screened at other festivals, e.g. in Rotterdam and New York. His first feature-length film was the documentary With You Now (2001). Salt is his feature debut and was screened at this year’s Berlinale where it won the Caligari Film Prize in the Forum of New Cinema. Filmography: the shorts Autonomy (1992), Hole (1994), Hunger (1996), Flutter (1997), Mom (1998), hITCH (1999), With You Now (2001) and Salt (2002).