Rúnar Rúnarsson’s ‘When the Light Breaks’ Sells Nearly Worldwide

In the run up to its North American premiere at Toronto Film Festival, Rúnar Rúnarsson’s Icelandic film “When the Light Breaks” has been picked by international distributors. The critically acclaimed movie world premiered at Cannes and is being handled by Paris-based The Party Film Sales.

Shot in 16mm, the movie stars Elín Hall (“Let Me Fall”) as Una, whom Rúnarsson previously described in an interview with Variety as an “outsider in the events that unfold around her, even though she is in fact at their center.” It marks Rúnarsson’s fourth feature. He broke through internationally in 2008 with his Oscar-nominated short “Two Birds.” He went on to helm the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2011 entry “Volcano,” San Sebastian 2015 winner “Sparrows “ and 2019 Valladolid and Lübeck fest winner “Echo.”

Following its premiere at Cannes and screenings at Karlovy Vary and Munich FilmFest, The Party Film Sales closed theatrical deals for “When the Light Breaks” in Japan (Bitters End), U.K. and Ireland (Modern Films), Germany and Austria (Neue Visionen), Taiwan (Proview Entertainment), Australia and New Zealand (Palace Films), Portugal (Nitrato), Sweden (Njuta), China (Hugoeast), Brazil (Imovision), Czech Republic & Slovakia (Vertigo), India (Bigtree Entertainment) and Ukraine (Kiyvmusicfilm).

Previous sales were closed in Italy (Movies Inspired), Switzerland (Xenix), Norway (Arthaus), Denmark (Ost for Paradis), Finland (Cinemanse), Hungary (Vertigo), Greece (Cinobo), Israel (New Cinema), Poland (Aurora), Turkey (Bir Film) and the Baltics (Estofilm). The movie will be released by Jour2fête in France, Cherry Pickers in Benelux, Zagreb Film Festival in Croatia and Sam Film in Iceland.

Rúnarsson produced the film together with Heather Millard of Iceland’s Compass Films, in co-production with local banner Halibut, Holland’s Revolver, France’s Eaux Vives/Jour2Fête and Croatia’s MP Film.

The Icelandic auteur has said the film was inspired by a personal event. “Ever since experiencing the loss of a friend as a young man, I wanted to deal with the emotions I experienced the day it happened by telling a universal story,” he told Variety. “Another recent loss in my life re-awoke that urge, and the storyline became more concrete.”