Hlynur Pálmason (b. 1984, Iceland) is a director, screenwriter and visual artist. He studied at the National Film School of Denmark, where he met cinematographer Maria von Hausswolff and editor Julius Krebs Damsbo. They have since worked together as a permanent team on Pálmason’s films. Together, they have developed a physical, place-bound way of telling stories that clearly stands out from many of their contemporaries.

The film narrative is reflected in the flow of images that grow organically from the carefully chosen locations that are used and the characters that mercilessly have been placed there. Pálmason himself has expressed that he depends on being stimulated by the shooting location in such a way that form and narrative can meet and intertwine. In an interview, Maria von Hausswolff describes their method being that they spend a lot of time at a shooting location to get to know it, and then sculpt in time and space: ‘People are put in relation to places, and we work on how to switch between the static and the movement (...).”

To Pálmason, the atmosphere, temperament, and rhythm of a film seem to be even as relevant as the themes it expresses. In this way he can be placed in a Chekhovian tradition where dramatic or plot-driven narratives must give way in favor of condensed mood, coupled with a ruthlessly realistic and non-judgmental way of conveying the characters’ handling of the moral dilemmas they are faced with. Here we can also sense a Robert Bresson hovering in the background.

The flow of time is another key word; perhaps most clearly in Nest, where the camera has a fixed place, and the seasons pass before our eyes over 18 months, while we now and then observe the children’s activities around the tree house. Playful, brutal and magical as life itself.

DNK 2013 | Fic. | 30 min
Director: Hlynur Pálmason

A PAINTER (EN MALER)

En maler, en suksessrik kunstner som lever alene og isolert. Han er besatt av arbeidet sitt, og vet ikke hvordan han skal takle det når han blir tvunget til å forholde seg til sønnen og andre utenforstående som står i veien for arbeidet hans og får ham ut av balanse.

A painter, a successful artist living alone and isolated. Driven only by his work, he finds himself lost when he’s forced to deal with his son and other outsiders that stand in the way of his work and get him out of balance.

Script: Hlynur Pálmason | Camera: Maria von Hausswolff | Editing: Julius Krebs Damsbo | Cast: Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Elliott Crosset Hove, Ida Cæcilie Rasmussen

Production: Den Danske Filmskole - Julie Waltersdorph Hansen
Contact: Julie Waltersdorph Hansen, e: info@masterplanpictures.com

DNK, ISL 2014 | Exp. | 10 min.
Director: Hlynur Pálmason

SEVEN BOATS (SJÖ BÁTAR)

Vi er ute på åpent hav. En mann ligger i sjøen og kjemper for livet. Han er omgitt av syv båter.

We are out in open sea. A man is in the ocean fighting for his life. He is surrounded by seven boats.

Script: Hlynur Pálmason | Camera: Maria von Hausswolff | Editing: Julius Krebs Damsbo | Cast: Einar Örn Thorlacius

Production: Masterplan Pictures - Julie Waltersdorph Hansen, Anton Máni Svansson, Per Damgaard Hansen
Contact: Danish Film Institute, e: festivalkd@dfi.dk

DNK, ISL 2022 | Fic. | 22 min.
Director: Hlynur Pálmason

I denne mesterklassen vil Hlynur Pálmason snakke om filmproduksjonsprosessen, og vise materiale fra pågående prosjekter. Vi skal også bli mer kjent med de andre mediene han jobber med, som malerier, videoinstallasjoner og fotografi. Som innledning vises hans kortfilm Nest.

In this Masterclass, Hlynur Pálmason will talk about the film making process, and show material from ongoing projects. We will also get more familiar with the other mediums he is working with, like paintings, video installations and photography. As an introduction, his short Nest is screened.

DNK, ISL 2022 | Fic. | 22 min.
Director: Hlynur Pálmason

NEST (HREIÐUR)

En fortelling om søsken som bygger en trehytte sammen i
løpet av et år. Vi opplever årstidenes skjønnhet og brutalitet
mens vi følger dem gjennom utfordringer og øyeblikk av glede.

A story of siblings building a tree house together over the course
of a year. We experience the beauty and brutality of the seasons,
as we follow them through their struggles and moments of joy.

Script, Camera: Hlynur Pálmason | Editing: Julius Krebs Damsbo | Cast: Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Grímur Hlynsson, Þorgils Hlynsson

Production: Join Motion Pictures, Snowglobe - Eva Jakobsen, Mikkel Jersin, Katrin Pors, Anton Máni Svansson
Contact: Snowglobe, e: koordinator@snowglobefilm.com

DNK, ISL 2017 | Fic. | 94 min.
Director: Hlynur Pálmason

I Hlynur Pálmasons spillefilmdebut møter vi brødrene Emil og
Johan, som arbeider sammen i en industriell kalkgruve på den
danske landsbygda. I det knallharde arbeidsmiljøet blir de ansatte nærmest behandlet som om de var på straffarbeid. Den yngste, Emil, holder seg mye for seg selv og blir av kollegaene ansett som en tvilsom fyr som selger dårlig sprit. Etter et slagsmål med broren og overhøvling fra sjefen går han helt av skaftet og starter en kamp mot hele verden. Men her er det ingen heltehistorie som formidles, bare krampetrekningene til en ensom og fortapt sjel.

In Hlynur Pálmason’s feature film debut, we meet the brothers Emil and Johan working together in an industrial lime mine in the Danish countryside. In the harsh working environment the employees are almost treated as if they were on penal servitude. The youngest, Emil, keeps a lot to himself and is regarded by his colleagues as a dubious guy who sells bad booze. After a fight with his brother and having been scolded by his boss, he goes completely off the hook and starts a fight against the whole world. But no heroic story is conveyed, only the convulsions of a lonely and lost soul.

Script: Hlynur Pálmason | Camera: Maria von Hausswolff | Editing: Julius Krebs Damsbo | Cast: Elliott Crosset Hove, Simon Sears, Victoria Carmen Sonne, Lars Mikkelsen

Production: Masterplan Pictures - Julie Waltersdorph Hansen, Hlynur Pálmason
Print: New Europe Film Sales, e: office@neweuropefilmsales.com

ISL, DNK, SWE 2019 | Fic. | 109 min.
Director: Hlynur Pálmason

Note: Icelandic dialogue,
Norwegian subtitles.

På Island sies det visstnok at på dager som er så hvite at jorden går i ett med himmelen, kan de døde kommunisere med de levende. Den pensjonerte lensmannen Ingimundur blir besatt av tanken om at hans nylig avdøde kone kanskje var utro, og starter en privat etterforskning som etter hvert utsetter både ham selv og hans nærmeste for fare. En stillferdig fortelling om sorg, hevn og selvdestruktive impulser.

In Iceland, it is said that on days so white that the earth merges with the sky, the dead can communicate with the living. The retired sheriff Ingimundur becomes obsessed with the idea that his recently deceased wife might have been unfaithful, and starts a private investigation that eventually puts both himself and those closest to him in danger. A quiet story about grief, revenge and self-destructive impulses.

Script: Hlynur Pálmason | Camera: Maria von Hausswolff | Editing: Julius Krebs Damsbo | Cast: Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir,
Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir

Production: Join Motion Pictures - Anton Máni Svansson
Print: Mer Film, e: hei@merfilm.no

DNK, ISL 2022 | Fic. | 143 min.
Director: Hlynur Pálmason

Note: Danish and Icelandic dialogue, Norwegian subtitles.

På slutten av 1800-tallet blir den unge danske presten Lucas sendt til en avsidesliggende del av Island for å bygge en kirke og fotografere menneskene han møter på sin vei. Men etter hvert som han han reiser dypere inn i det uforsonlige og golde islandske landskapet mister han gradvis seg selv, og kommer i økende konflikt med sin veldig islandske guide. Når han så omsider når fram til den lille bygden hvor han skal bo hos en danske kjøpmannen og hans to døtre, blir hans tro satt på ytterligere prøve.

At the end of the 19th century, the young Danish priest Lucas is sent to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph the people he meets on his way. But as he travels deeper into the unforgiving and barren Icelandic landscape, he gradually loses himself, and comes into increasing conflict with his very Icelandic guide. When he finally reaches the small settlement where he is to live with a Danish merchant and his two daughters, his faith is further tested.

Script: Hlynur Pálmason | Camera: Maria von Hausswolff | Editing: Julius Krebs Damsbo | Cast: Elliott Crosset Hove, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Victoria Carmen Sonne, Jacob Hauberg Lohmann

Production: Snowglobe - Katrin Pors, Eva Jakobsen, Mikkel Jersin
Print: Ymer Media, e: booking@ymermedia.no