The Cinematheque

Denmark

“Pálmason’s unique vision, fierce aesthetic, and eye for telling detail make Winter Brothers essential viewing. His fearless approach to the medium suggests similarities with some of the most promising, intriguing filmmakers working today.”

Steve Gravestock, TIFF

A major discovery at Locarno and TIFF, the debut feature of Icelandic artist-turned-filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason is a daring feat of aesthetic immersion and brazenly askew storytelling. Elliott Crosset Hove (Best Actor, Locarno) is misfit Emil, a limestone miner tethered to his older brother in some inhospitable corner of industrial Denmark. His life, a grim routine of unforgiving work and social exclusion, is assuaged by the friendship of his sibling, his affection for the town’s only woman, and the moonshine he makes with chemicals lifted from the mine — that is, until a toxic batch lands a co-worker in the ER.