Archive of films Parents / Foreldrar

Iceland
2006, 85 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2007

This film by Icelandic director Ragnar Bragason follows on from his previous work Children, awarded at the San Sebastian IFF. It tells the story of three people whose hopes and anguish are the consequence of parenthood and their own botched lives.

Synopsis

Three lives come together in this black-and-white film about the hopes and anguish which parenthood brings. Married dentist Oscar is bringing up his wife’s two children, but longs for a child of his own. Successful broker Einar doesn’t know what is going on in his life, which is starting to crumble before his very eyes. And Katrin Rose who, after returning from Sweden, wants to win back her 11-year-old son, finds herself back at the starting line. “I was inspired by the working methods of Leigh, Godard and Cassavetes, and even when I was doing the preparatory work for the film Children, I got the theatre group Vesturport to collaborate with me on that as well,” says the director. “The actors were given the task of presenting characters they know from their own lives or loosely based on real people. The following months were spent improvising and doing research in order to build up the characters and develop the plot. We began shooting without any written dialogue, but each actor had a broad sense of his character. The idea was to be, not to act.”

About the director

Ragnar Bragason (b. 1971, Sudavik, Iceland) debuted with the film Fiasco, which won the Jury Prize at the Cairo IFF in 2000 and was also screened at festivals in Toronto, Mannheim, Pusan etc. Parents is a continuation of Bragason’s second feature film Children, which was shown at the San Sebastian IFF in 2006 and became Iceland’s official candidate for the Oscar nominations in the category Best Foreign Language Film. It received a record number of nominations for the Edda award, which is presented by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy. His screenplay The Whisperer (Magaluf) was nominated in 2003 for the Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award as Screenplay of the Year.

Contacts

The Works Film Group
5th Floor, Fairgate House, 78 New Oxford Street, WC1A 1HB, London
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 612 1080
Fax: +44 207 612 1081
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.theworksfilmgroup.com

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About the film

Black & white, 35 mm

Section:	Another View

Director:	Ragnar Bragason
Screenplay:	Ragnar Bragason, Nanna Krístin Magnúsdóttir, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Víkingur Kristjánsson & the cast
Dir. of Photography:	Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson
Music:	Pétur Þor Benediktsson
Editor:	Sverrir Kristjánsson
Producer:	Ragnar Bragason, Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Víkingur Kristjánsson, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir
Production:	Vesturport
Cast:	Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir, Víkingur Kristjánsson
Contact:	The Works Film Group

www:	www.parents-movie.com

Guests

Laufey Guðjónsdóttir

Film Institution Rep.

Clare Crean

Sales Agent

Christof Wehmeier

Film Institution Rep.

Gisli Orn Gardarsson

Actor / Film Director