Archive of films Either Way / Á annan veg

Iceland / United Kingdom
2011, 85 min

Section: Variety's Ten Euro Directors to Watch
Year: 2012

In 1980s Iceland, two highway maintenance men find themselves at a figurative crossroads in this beguiling character-driven dramedy that uses the harshly beautiful landscape as a principal character. Either Way highlights human vulnerability and the struggle to create something meaningful and lasting.

Synopsis

Two highway maintenance men in the barren wilderness of 1980s Iceland find themselves at a figurative crossroads in the small but beguiling character-driven dramedy Either Way. Wisely employing the harshly beautiful landscape as the third principal character, tyro helmer Sigurðsson highlights human vulnerability and the struggle to create something meaningful and lasting. Representing two different types of manhood, Finnbogi (co-writer Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson) and callow, hot-to-trot Alfred (Hilmar Guðjónsson) gall each other as they perform their hard labor far from other human contact. Ultimately, their barely civil tolerance evolves into real friendship as they support each other through romantic travails. The gorgeous visuals favor long takes, wide frames and moving shots that allow the thesping to carry the story.

About the director

Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson (b. 1978, Reykjavik) came to film at the beginning of the 1990s through a love of skateboarding when he began shooting skate videos in his native Iceland. After earning a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Iceland, he left for New York’s Columbia University where he was accepted to their prestigious film program at the School of the Arts. His graduation film Skröltormar (Rattlesnakes, 2008) took away three main awards from the Columbia University Film Festival before traveling on to numerous world festivals and picking up further honors. He currently teaches screenwriting and direction at the Icelandic Film School and at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. Either Way is his feature film debut.

Contacts

Icelandic Film Centre
Hverfisgata 54, 101, Reykjavik
Iceland
Tel: +354 562 3580
Fax: +354 562 7171
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.icelandicfilmcentre.is

About the film

Color, HD CAM

Section:	Variety's Ten Euro Directors to Watch

Director:	Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
Screenplay:	Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson
Dir. of Photography:	Árni Filippusson
Editor:	Kristján Loðmfjörd
Producer:	Davíð Óskar Ólafsson, Árni Filippusson, Hreinn Beck, Tobias Munthe, Theo Youngstein, Sindri Kjartansson
Production:	Mystery Island, Flickbook Films
Cast:	Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Hilmar Guðjónsson, Thorsteinn Bachmann
Contact:	Icelandic Film Centre

www:	www.mystery.is

Guests

Laufey Guðjónsdóttir

Film Institution Rep.

Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson

Film Director