Iceland has submitted Sparrows, a coming-of-age film from director Runar Runarsson, to represent the country in the 2017 Oscar race for the best foreign-language film.
The film, which premiered in Toronto last year, follows a teenage boy (Atli Oskar Fjalarsson) forced to adjust to living with his deadbeat dad, played by Ingvar E. Sigurosson, in a rough town in Iceland’s far north.
The setting gives some visual oomph to the somewhat conventional story, as does the hypnotic score from former Sigur Ros keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson.
Iceland has never won the foreign-language Oscar and so far has only one nomination to its name: the 1991 drama Children of Nature from Fridrik Thor Fridriksson.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce its 2017 shortlist of foreign-language nominees early next year. The final five nominees will be announced on Jan. 24. The 2017 Oscars will be held Feb. 26.
