A coastal village in Iceland. Addi (14) roams around with his buddies Siggi and Konni. Shy Balli is new to the gang, with its strict pecking order. Together, they test their courage, munch on mushrooms, get wasted and break into the pool for a late-night swim. Alas, aggression and violence are always only a blink of an eye away – especially with Konni, or “animal”, as everyone calls him. Then Addi dreams that something awful is going to happen.

Four boys trying to find their way, and getting tangled up with one another like wrestlers in the process. With powerful imagery and a ton of empathy, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (HEARTSTONE) tells of a youthful world, in which broken families, neglect and fist fights are as much a part of everyday life as magic, poetry and hope. A simultaneously painful and gentle film that asks what it really means to be friends.

Born in Reykjavik/Iceland in 1982, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, studied Art and Screenwriting. His short films WHALE VALLEY and ARTUN were screened and honoured at festivals around the world. His fiction-feature debut HEARTSTONE was honoured with the Queer Lion in Venice in 2016 and has gone on to receive over 50 further awards. His second fiction feature, BEAUTIFUL BEINGS, celebrated its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlinale and was shortlisted for the European Film Award in 2022.

Filmography (selection): 2013 WHALE VALLEY, 2014 ARTUN (both short films), 2016 HERZSTEIN, 2022 BEAUTIFUL BEINGS

Awards (selection): “Label Europa Cinemas” (Berlin International Film Festival, Germany 2022), Special Jury Prize within the International New Talent Competition (Taipei Film Festival, Taiwan 2022)