Rúnar Rúnarsson, destinées islandaises

For the 2024 edition of the festival, FIKA(S) and the Cinémathèque québécoise celebrate Icelandic cinema by presenting a retrospective of Rúnar Rúnarsson's works. With a population of 400,000 inhabitants, Iceland produces only around ten feature films annually. Nevertheless, since the 2010s, various Icelandic films characterized by great sensitivity have captured the audience's attention. Revealed with the short film The Last Farm, nominated for an Oscar in 2005, Rúnarsson has emerged in recent years as one of the key figures in this cinematic revival, with an intimate body of work revolving around the theme of attachment to the land, set against the backdrop of breathtaking volcanic landscapes. To mark the 5th edition of FIKA(S), we bring you three feature films directed by the filmmaker so far: Volcano (2011), Sparrows (2015), and Echo (2019).