Hlynur Pálmason (born 1984) is an Icelandic film director, screenwriter, and

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

Early life and education

Hlynur Pálmason was born in 1984 in Höfn í Hornafirði, Iceland. He studied film at the National Film School of Denmark in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, graduating in 2013. He lived in Denmark for 10 years before returning to

Höfn Höfn () or Höfn í Hornafirði (, ) is an Icelandic fishing town in the southeastern part of the country. It lies near Hornafjörður fjord. The town, the second largest in the southeastern part of Iceland, offers scenic views of Vatnajökull ...

, a town on the Hornafjörður fjord. He is also a visual artist.

Career

Pálmason has said he is more interested in "the narrative style and flow of films" than the actual plotline. His debut feature film '' Winter Brothers (Vinterbrødre)'', which was filmed in Denmark, debuted at the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

in Switzerland in 2017. It went on to win the

Bodil Award for Best Danish Film The Bodil Award for Best Danish Film () is one of the categories for the Bodil Awards presented annually by the Danish Film Critics Association. It was created in 1948 and is one of the oldest film prizes in Europe. The jury can decide not to give ...

and the

Robert Award for Best Danish Film The Robert Award for Best Danish Film () is presented at an annual Robert Award ceremony by the Danish Film Academy Honorees 1980s * 1984: ''Beauty and the Beast'' (''Skønheden og udyret'') directed by Nils Malmros * 1985: ''The Element of ...

, with Pálmason also winning the Robert Award for Best Director. His second feature film, '' A White, White Day'' (''Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur''), was filmed in Iceland, and many of the people he had worked with on ''Winter Brothers'' were also employed for this film, including the German

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, editor Julius Krebs Damsbo, and sound designer Lars Halvorsen. He had previously collaborated with Icelandic actor Ingvar Sigurðsson on the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

he made for graduation, ''The Painter'', in 2013. ''A White White Day'' was selected to screen in the Critics' Week section at the

2019 Cannes Film Festival The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2019. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu served as jury president for the main competition. South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho won the , the festival's top prize, fo ...

, and was selected as Iceland's submission for the

Academy Award for Best International Feature Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

at the

92nd Academy Awards The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 ...

in 2020. He followed up in 2022 with '' Godland'' (''Vanskabte Land''), which premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and was selected as Denmark's 2022 submission for the Nordic Council Film Prize. The film, its director, and several actors were nominated for many awards and won a number of them, including Gold Hugo for Best Feature Film at the

Chicago Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

and Best Feature Film at the Riga International Film Festival in Latvia. Pálmason won Director of the Year at Iceland's 2023 Edda Awards.

Filmography

Personal life

Pálmason's daughter is Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, who plays significant roles in both ''A White White Day'' and ''Godland''.

References

External links

Hlynur Pálmason
at the

Icelandic Film Centre The Icelandic Film Centre ( Icelandic: Kvikmyndamiðstöð Íslands) is a public institution that was established in 2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pálmason, Hlynur 1984 births Living people Hlynur Pálmason Hlynur Pálmason Hlynur Pálmason