WINTER BROTHERS
Vinterbrødre
Directed by Hlynur Pálmason
Denmark, Iceland | 2017 | 94 min | drama | Danish, English
A brother odyssey set in a rural chalk-mining community during a cold winter. We follow two brothers working in this harsh environment focusing on the younger brother Emil, who distills moonshine made from stolen chemicals from the factory. Emil is an outsider, an oddball, who made a conscious choice for loneliness and is only accepted by the mining community due to his older brother Johan. Emil longs for passion, for being wanted and loved. When a fellow worker becomes sick, the moonshine and Emil are prime suspects. Gradually a violent feud erupts between him and the tightly-knit mining community. Parallelly, Emil feels betrayed by his brother when he finds out that the neighbor girl Anna, the subject of his unfulfilled desires, chooses his older brother instead of him. Revenge, loneliness, and lack of love pervade this modern brother odyssey.
Cast & Crew
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Screenplay: Hlynur Pálmason
Cinematography: Maria Von Hausswolff
Editing: Julius Krebs Damsbo
Cast: Elliott Crosset Hove (Emil), Simon Sears (Johan), Victoria Carmen Sonne (Anna), Lars Mikkelsen (Carl)
Production: Masterplan Pictures, Join Motion Pictures
Hlynur PálmasonIceland
Festivals & Awards
Locarno Film Festival – Pardo for best Actor, Best European Film, Junior Jury Award – First Prize, Ecumenical Jury Special Mention
CPH:PIX – Grand Prix
Toronto International Film Festival (Discoveries)
AFI FEST
BFI London
Busan International Film Festival
press quotes
Pálmason has constructed a beautiful, consciously dramatic film… it’s difficult not to applaud this exhilarating work.
The Upcoming
Impressively original debut (…) Strange, exceptionally crafted (…) “Winter Brothers” can sometimes recall the Greek Weird Wave work of Yorgos Lanthimos.
Variety
a solid cinematographic debut that is both visually and narratively remarkable (…) a delicate, edgy work of art with a strong heart
Cineuropa
