Iceland review - 2016, Qupperneq 24

22 ICELAND REVIEW
and two VHSs, and we got together and
made a film. At that point, everything I
wanted to express—picture, sound and
story—came together in one form. I felt
that I was in my element. I felt good and
wanted to continue to express myself
within that medium.”
The same people are involved in most
of Rúnar’s projects, including Kjartan
Sveinsson of Sigur Rós, who writes the
scores, and fellow students from the
National Film School of Denmark,
Swedish cinematographer Sophia
Olsson, and Danish film editor Jacob
Secher Schulsinger. “After two years at
school, this core group got together and
used the summer vacation in 2007 to go
to Iceland and film [Two Birds]. The post
production was done in the evenings
and on weekends. We took advantage
of the access to equipment at school.”
The short was not a school project, but
outside projects were encouraged, Rúnar
explains. “The more you produce, the
more you learn.” He also works closely
with others in the Icelandic film industry.
“With the current success of Icelandic
movies on the international film scene,
foreign program managers and artistic
directors have commented on how great
it is that we’re all on one anothers’ credit
lists. We help each other out, which is
not something they’re used to, and that’s
our strength.”
Rúnar’s shorts and feature films have
many things in common. “As much as
I like the form of short film—it’s like a
poem or a short story—and look for-
ward to making more short films in the
future … I consider the short films I’ve
made so far about the older generation a
preparation for Volcano—there are many
elements that I revisited there—and the
same can be said about the other half of
my short films: that they were prepara-
tion for Sparrows.”
CASTING AND FILMING
Sparrows features 16-year-old Ari, who
is forced to move from Reykjavík to a
somewhat hostile small-town commu-
nity in the West Fjords and live with
his estranged, alcoholic father. Rúnar is
particular about everyone involved in
his projects, as well as with every detail
of filming. Several hundred teenagers
auditioned for Sparrows. “I do all the
auditions myself. Apart from finding tal-
ent, the individuals have to understand
me and I have to understand them.”
Rúnar even auditions the extras. “The
roles of extras are often underestimated.
Even though they don’t have lines, they
may stand next to the leads, move and
perform other actions. They’re not just
chairs, sofas and lamps. They must be
able to act too.”
The leading role of Ari is played by Atli
Óskar Fjalarsson, whom Rúnar describes
as “a natural talent.” Ari’s father, Gunnar,
is portrayed by Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson.
“Ingvar had a very difficult part which he
performed excellently, a man with all
these frailties who is nonetheless aware of
them.” The dialogue in Sparrows appears
to flow naturally. “I write the screenplay
and the lines, but then the actors have to
find their language within the text. Is it
more natural for them to say ‘helvítis!’ or
‘fuck!’?—which is the same thing. The
goal is to make it seem real even though
there’s also a certain esthetic that we
work with in how the story is told: poetic
realism.” Sparrows was mostly shot in
Flateyri, a seaside village surrounded by
high mountains—place dear to Rúnar’s
FILM
A still from Sparrows.