film profile], this Icelandic tale courtesy of
Marteinn Thórsson – selected for the Nordic Cinema Competition at the 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, following its domestic premiere – or Robin Wright s latest Sundance offering,
Land, there is one thing they just can t do without: strangers coming together and finding refuge in each other s pain, sharing things they weren t able to share with their families or the people closest to them (now relegated to a worried voice on the other end of a phone call), usually while taking in the sights.
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Or simply walking around whatever said place has to offer, and in the case of the
Laufey Elíasdóttir and Tim Plester in
Backyard Village
Stories about rediscovering oneself somewhere in a small town or, better still, far away, out in the wilderness, are having a moment. And whether it s
Backyard Village, this Icelandic tale courtesy of
Marteinn Thórsson – selected for the Nordic Cinema Competition at the 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, following its domestic premiere – or Robin Wright s latest Sundance offering,
Land, there is one thing they just can t do without: strangers coming together and finding refuge in each other s pain, sharing things they weren t able to share with their families or the people closest to them (now relegated to a worried voice on the other end of a phone call), usually while taking in the sights.
Review: Backyard Village cineuropa.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cineuropa.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Backyard Village, penned by
Guðmundur Ãskarsson (here also serving as producer), revolves around a 40-year-old woman called Brynja (played by
Laufey ElÃasdóttir) who, after spending some time in a health spa in a small town, cannot bring herself to cross the heath separating her from the city she lives in, unwilling to meet her mother who has just returned to Iceland after leaving the family 35 years earlier. Brynja takes lodgings in a small guesthouse called Backyard Village, where she meets Mark (British actor
Tim Plester), a 50-year-old Englishman who has been staying there for a couple of months while coming to terms with his own personal tragedy. The vulnerable pair share their feelings and come to form an unbreakable bond that will help them move on with their lives.