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Did you always plan to return to Iceland after school in Denmark?
- In 1995 I started The Danish Film School and graduated in 1999 with a 40 min. long film, called
'Lost Weekend', shot in Denmark. For some time I knew that my films would not necessarily take
place in Iceland. But Nói Albinói is a very old idea I strongly associated with Iceland, and I always
wanted to do my first feature film there, to establish where I come from.
What’s the origin of NÓI ALBINÓI?
- The character of NÓI ALBINÓI has been living inside me for many years. He is even older than my interest in films, and at some point I considered making cartoons or comics with that character. Throughout the years I have collected all kinds of ideas around him, and by the time I graduated from film school, these ideas were ripe to be locked into a script.
What about the location of the film?
- At first, the film was not supposed to take place in an isolated village; I was thinking more about Reykjavík. But finally I thought that Reykjavík was too connected to reality; I wanted to create a universe that did not really exist but could exist. To me the West Fjords were most interesting because of the eerie atmosphere and beautiful, extremely visual scenery. Of course we were very dependent on snow and that was the area that was most likely to have snow. During winter it can be completely cut off from the rest of the world due to extreme weather.
Was the casting difficult to do?
- Iceland is small and everybody knows everybody. If you sit in a bar long enough in Reykjavík you will have met all your cast and crew. In Nói I didn’t go after blockbuster names. Most of the actors are new to cinema and not celebrities. I mainly went after the right types, and that is why it is a combination of non-professional and professional actors. The woman who plays Lina, the grandmother, delivers the mail in my neighborhood; I met the girl who plays Iris in a vegetarian restaurant. Many members of the cast are personal friends, like the psychologist. Regarding the character of Nói, it was clear to me that he would need to have a very distinctive and almost alienated look. And since I do not know any Icelandic albinos of that age that are good actors, Tómas Lemarquis was by far the best choice. Not only is he a very dedicated and talented actor, but he also has the look that I wanted.
You composed the music for NÓI ALBINÓI?
-Yes, with my friend Orri. Together we form a band called 'slowblow'. There are very few things in life that I enjoy more than making music. That’s why we try to stay away from the business aspect of it. Music is a holiday from our professional lives and we don’t allow anything into the chemistry that can ruin the pleasure. But we have nevertheless managed to release two albums independently and a new one is in the pipelines.
Do you think the theme of the film is very 'Icelandic'?
- It was not my intention to make a typically Icelandic film. I like to make films that take place in an isolated microcosm, in a confined universe that is not really a part of the world as we know it, but not surreal either. Somewhere in between. But apart from that, I guess the film is just my version of a story that has been told over and over again: The young rebel, who doesn’t fit in anywhere, and tries to escape… It is an old cliché but I wanted to do my own version of this kind of story.
Is it something you particularly notice in Iceland, people wishing to escape or to move away? Is it a favourable environment to develop this kind of story in?
- Most people move away from Iceland at some point in their lives. It is somehow necessary when you live on an isolated island. But almost everybody returns sooner or later. However, regarding this particular story, I wasn’t dealing with Icelandic reality, since I wanted the film to have its own universe.
What are your influences as a filmmaker?
- Everything but movies! I very much enjoy making movies, but watching them can be like doing algebra or something. I guess it has something to do with the fact that it has become my profession, because before it wasn’t like that at all. But right now I´m very hooked on sitcoms. And I learned very much about film-making from The Simpsons.
Do you particularly like the loser type of character like Nói’s father or even Nói himself?
- To me heroes are extremely boring, I mean people who can do everything. I think it’s more interesting when people are miscommunicating and don’t know how to deal with things. Like in sitcoms, where the characters have the same problems in every episode. They never learn and it just continues for ten years! If they were heros they would just need one episode to solve everything and move on.
Is there a biblical or metaphysical interpretation of the film?
- I am very interested in working with myths in a subconscious way. I want the audience to feel with their guts and emotions a connection to something mythical and universal, but if they become intellectually aware of exactly what it is, while they watch the film, then the task has failed. Nothing is more pathetic to me than stories that have obvious biblical or other references. If a film has a character called Eve, and she picks up an apple, I walk out of the cinema. So it has to be very subtle.
Without telling the end of the film, could we say that the final event is caused by Nói? Could it be seen like some kind of a punishment, and if yes why?
- The ending is supposed to have this double meaning that sometimes the worst thing possible can also be a new beginning. You’ve lost everything and it’s terrible but then you’re also liberated from everything. For me it was the only possible escape for Nói, but I don’t want to dig deeper into it than that. It is open for interpretation and the audience has to decide for themselves.
There are some comic and absurd elements integrated into what can be called a tragic story. Is it something you intentionally put into the film in order not to make it too tragic?
- For me it’s the other way around: there are some tragic elements integrated into what can be called a comic story. I always start from humour, and I try to avoid plot. But I like to put a definite ending. That’s what makes it a film, instead of a pilot for a sitcom! It’s the same structure in Lost Weekend as in NÓI ALBINÓI with strange and humorous situations and then a curse at the end. I’ve always used this structure, and it seems that my future projects will be no exception. But I find it strange that my scripts are like a comic-book, but then the film itself always turns out to be much more serious than anyone had expected, myself included. I don’t know why this happens. It’s one of these things that I can’t really control.
Is it something that you agree with or do you try to fight it?
- It is definitely not a conscious thing, but I accept it and find it quite exciting. I always thought Lost Weekend would be more funny than anything else, but when we started shooting, I realized that the actors were speaking and moving extremely slowly. I didn’t ask them to do this, but it was definitely working against the comedy, but it must have come from somewhere, so I decided not to change it and see what would happen to the film.
This happened with Nói Albinói as well?
- A little bit, but not as radically as in 'Lost Weekend'. The reason is perhaps that 'Lost Weekend' takes place in one very specific location that is heavily atmospheric. So it creates a particular mood. In Nói it’s different because there are many different locations so you don’t get absorbed by one mood.
Was it hard to shoot the film?
- It was very hard. We had to depend very heavily on the snow, but that winter there was almost no snow. Actually we were extremely lucky because the only snow for the whole winter fell exactly while we were shooting the exterior scenes. I’m very happy that no artificial snow was used in the whole film, and yet it is snowing in almost every shot. 95% of the indoor scenes were shot on location. The shooting schedule was tight, and all in all it would have been impossible if we hadn’t been in these small Icelandic villages. Very few movies have been made there, so people are not fed up with film crews coming and everybody is so helpful. When in other countries you often have to face monstruous bureaucracy, in this area you just need to make one phone call to be able to shoot! The solution for every problem you might have is always just a phone call away.
How does the snow fit into the graphic elements and the atmosphere of the film?
- It adds a lot of production design just by nature. Also it gives a physical dimension to the film because it’s difficult to move through snow. Especially, when you are being chased by cops. Physically, it is impossible to get away from a place like this. For the escape scene, I tried to imitate a B-movie car chase, by just adding the snow as a surprise obstacle.
Was it technically difficult to shoot in these weather conditions?
- Yes, it’s a strange situation to be hoping for the worst possible weather every day, knowing how difficult it is to shoot in these conditions and how much the equipment suffers from the cold. It’s also difficult for the DP to shoot in so much snow, because the contrasts are so exaggerated and hard to deal with.
Where did you meet the DP, Rasmus Videbæk?
- At the Danish Filmschool. That’s also where I met the editor Daniel Dencik. It’s the good thing about spending four years together in a school. You develop solid relationships that continue after you leave school.
You have a film project in Denmark. Do you want to continue shooting in Iceland?
- I have two or three ideas for film projects but none of them take place in Iceland. One is a Dogma film that I’m currently developing in Copenhagen. I think it’s much easier to work abroad in a foreign language. It helps to abstract things. In Iceland, I know the country and the language so well that it is a little bit difficult to get the necessary distance to create a universe of its own. It comes much easier to me when I’m abroad.
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