Rúnar Rúnarsson’s Echo To Premiere At Locarno
Writer / director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s (Sparrows) latest feature, Echo (Bergmál), will compete for the Pardo d’Oro in the main competition at the Locarno Film Festival (7 – 17 August) where it will also receive its world premiere.
As Iceland gets ready for Christmas, a peculiar atmosphere settles over the country. An abandoned farm is burning, a children’s choir sings Christmas carols and chicken carcasses parade through a slaughterhouse, Echo draws a bitter and tender portrait of modern society through 56 discrete scenes.
Rúnar Rúnarsson said that he was very excited to premiere at Locarno and his team had walked over fire to make the film a reality. Moreover, he was hopeful that the recognition of being selected for competition might clear the way for their next project.
Producer Lilja Ósk Snorradóttir added: “Echo is artistic, bold but at the same time extremely beautiful and intertwines so many things like humour, grief and beauty. I allow myself to say that no film like this has ever been made and surely not a Christmas film.”