2012: A Musical Odyssey 2011 / Backyard / Iceland 2010
This genial, home-grown film presents the "do-it-yourself” nature of the Icelandic scene as an essential breeding ground for individuality and creativity. The "backyard” festival hosts some of the best bands on the island (Múm, FM Belfast, Hjaltalín, Sin Fang Bous), but the audience will also be bowled over by the affable and productive human dimension of everything going on here – the friendships, the craftwork, endearing amateurism, and mistakes which lead to true discoveries.
One day a guy named Árni Rúnar had the idea of gathering a few bands together in his backyard to do some live recording. His idea evolved into this film. He filled his little shack of a studio with equipment and prayed for good weather. He invited all his neighbours round and made them pizza, cupcakes and pancakes. Many of the most exciting Icelandic musicians of their generation showed up to play as well, giving us a unique look at the island’s fresh pop scene in the summer of 2009. The film Backyard is, in a way, the underground antithesis of the big-budget, somewhat "promotional” portrait of the Icelandic arena, Screaming Masterpiece (the tour de force screened at KVIFF in 2005). This intimate, home-grown film presents the "do-it-yourself” nature of the Icelandic scene as an essential breeding ground for individuality and creativity. The "backyard” festival hosts some of the best bands on the island: Múm, FM Belfast, Hjaltalín, and Sin Fang Bous.... But the audience will also be bowled over by the affable and productive human dimension of everything going on here – the friendships, the craftwork, endearing amateurism, and mistakes which lead to true discoveries.
75 min / Color, DIGIBETA
International premiere
Director Árni Sveinsson
/ Screenplay Árni Sveinsson, Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson
/ Dir. of Photography Árni Sveinsson, Guðlaugur Arnar Sigurðsson, Jón Tómas Einarsson, Ryan Parteka, Þórgnýr Thoroddsen, Friðrik Elís Ásmundsson, Árni Vilhjálmsson
/ Music Múm, Hjaltalín, FM Belfast, Retro Stefson, Sin Fang Bous, Borko and Reykjavík!
/ Editor Árni Sveinsson
/ Producer Sindri Kjartansson
/ Production Kjartanson ehf.
/ Contact Árni Sveinsson
www: www.backyardthefilm.com
Árni Sveinsson is an Icelandic filmmaker who has worked in film and television for the past twelve years, both in his native country and in the United States. His film debut, In the Shoes of the Dragon, won the Icelandic Academy Award for Best Documentary. He has also created a variety of television series, short films, music videos and stage installations. Backyard won Best Picture at the annual Icelandic documentary festival in Skjaldborg. Sveinsson lives in Reykjavik.
Árni Sveinsson
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Iceland
E-mail: [email protected]
Pavel Klusák
Freelance journalist
Árni Sveinsson
Film Director
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