DIRECTOR: Benedikt Erlingsson
PRODUCERS: Marianne Slot, Benedikt Erlingsson, Carine Leblanc
SCREENPLAY: Benedikt Erlingsson, Ólafur Egill Egilsson
PHOTOGRAPHY: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson
EDITOR: Davíð Alexsander Corno
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Snorri Hilmarsson
COSTUME DESIGNER: Sylvía Dögg Halldórsdóttir, Maria Kero
MUSIC: Davíð Þór Jónsson
WITH: Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir (Halla/Ása), Jóhann Sigurðarson (Sveinbjörn), Juan Camillo Roman Estrada (Juan Camillo), Jörundur Ragnarsson (Baldvin)

FESTIVALS: Cannes (Critics’ Week) 2018

REVIEW

“Meet Halla, Icelandic superwoman in a woolly jumper. At 49 and single, she leads a full and satisfying life. She’s the popular conductor of an a capella choir, practices tai chi, swims laps, cycles everywhere – and unbeknownst to all bar a single tremulous accomplice, is saving the countryside from industrial pollution, one exploded pylon at a time. Dubbed the ‘Mountain Woman’ in the media, demonised as an economic spoiler by government spinners, she’s feeling the pressure when a letter arrives reminding her that four years earlier, supported by her twin sister, she applied to adopt a Ukrainian orphan. 

Actress Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir makes Halla an engagingly formidable eco-justice warrior (and plays her twin as an equally dedicated activist – of the self) in this delightfully off-the-wall new film from Benedikt Erlingsson, director of Of Horses and Men. Funny – in the way Halla exploits the invisibility of middle-aged womanhood – suspenseful and as spectacular as any film shot in Iceland, Woman at War is further graced by the wittiest of musical soundtracks, performed by an Icelandic oompah band and Ukrainian vocal trio within the movie, standing by even as Halla aims her crossbow at pylons or scampers across the highlands, pursued by drones.
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“Is there anything rarer than an intelligent feel-good film that knows how to tackle urgent global issues with humor as well as a satisfying sense of justice? Look no further than Woman at War, Benedikt Erlingsson’s gloriously Icelandic (for lack of a better adjective), near-perfect follow-up to Of Horses and Men.”

​— Jay Weissberg, Variety

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Dunedin     
Wednesday 26 February, 7.30pm

Westport     
Wednesday 11 March

Tauranga     
Wednesday 1 April, 6.15pm

Carterton     
Friday 1 May, 7.30pm​

Nelson     
Tuesday 9 June, 6.00pm

Canterbury     
Monday 27 July, 7.30pm

Queenstown     
Tuesday 22 September, 6.00pm

Palmerston North     
Monday 2 November, 6.00pm

Whanganui
Monday 9 November, 7.00pm

New Plymouth
Wednesday 25 November, 6.00pm
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