Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason doesn’t start his films with a fixed idea — he lets them emerge. In a conversation with Nordic Film Talks at the San Sebastian Film Festival, he describes how narratives “come by surprise” as he writes, shoots and edits, often across several years. His two latest films, Joan of Arc and The Love That Remains, both star his three children and capture the mix of playfulness and conflict in family life.
From the demolition of his old studio to spontaneous moments of sibling tension, Pálmason folds real-life fragments into cinema, even pushing toward magical realism in The Love That Remains, Iceland’s Oscar submission this year. Alongside his films, San Sebastian also showcased his first major gallery exhibition — another reminder that, for Pálmason, the line between cinema and art is always shifting.
Host: Wendy Mitchell, filmwendy.com
Presenting partner: Nordisk Film & TV Fond, https://nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/
Audio producer: Karoline Balstrøm
Logo designed by: Tine Seerup
Music artist: Bail Bonds
Title: Swimming Lessons
