17/01/2024 - The Icelandic filmmaker’s new drama tackles the theme of grief and stars Let Me Fall actress Elín Hall Halldórsdóttir in the leading role

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Runar Rúnarsson’s fourth feature, titled When the Light Breaks, is now in post-production. Shot on 16 mm film, the picture will be presented at the upcoming Nordic Film Market (31 January-2 February) during the Göteborg Film Festival (see the news).

The Icelandic helmer debuted with his Oscar-nominated short Two Birds in 2008, followed by Volcano [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2011 (premiered in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight), the San Sebastián Golden Shell winner Sparrows [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile] in 2015 and his latest endeavour, Echo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile], in 2019 (which premiered at Locarno).

This week, French sales agent The Party Film Sales acquired the world rights to When the Light Breaks, as first reported by Variety.

The story of When the Light Breaks is inspired by a personal event experienced by Rúnarsson: “Ever since enduring the loss of a friend as a young man, I have wanted to deal with the emotions I experienced the day it happened by telling a universal story. Another recent loss in my life re-awoke that urge, and the storyline became more concrete.”

The plot follows Una (played by Elín Hall Halldórsdóttir, best known for her leading role in Baldvin Z’s 2018 film Let Me Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Baldvin Z
interview: Kristin Thora Haraldsdóttir
film profile]), described as “an outsider in the events that unfold around her, even though she is in fact at their centre”. Because of a secret she carries around with her, she can’t claim the space she deserves in the grief that she experiences. Una has to make space for everyone else’s emotions whilst preserving her own dignity.

In his film, Rúnarsson wishes “to create a narrative or image that encapsulates the complex feelings on a day of losing someone unexpectedly, when reality is altered and the future changes in an instant”.

When the Light Breaks is being produced by Rúnarsson himself together with Heather Millard, of Compass Films (Iceland), in co-production with Halibut (Iceland), Revolver (Netherlands), Eaux Vives/Jour2Fête (France) and MP Film (Croatia). The project has received backing from the Icelandic Film Centre, Eurimages, the European Union’s Creative Europe – MEDIA programme, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre as well as pubcasters RÚV and YLE.

The picture is slated for a release in summer 2024.