WHEN WE ARE BORN (A FILM WITH ÓLAFUR ARNALDS)

WHEN WE ARE BORN (A FILM WITH ÓLAFUR ARNALDS)

August-September 2020
Reykjavik and around, Iceland

A film by Vincent Moon & Ólafur Arnalds

www.whenweareborn.is

In August 2020, a bit miraculously due to the conditions, friend and producer Eva Moari and myself went to Iceland to work on a project with pianist Ólafur Arnalds. A few months before, around March, we started to exchange ideas around a collaboration - it took different shapes, first a music video, then some collection of songs... but then his entire tour got postponed... and we ended up finally writing together a very hybrid piece of music and cinema, a 'live performance film' in the spirit of the early Blogothèque pieces (remember that 'Cheap Magic Inside' with Beirut?) but on another level in terms of production, merging various deep (and hidden in the film...) cinema influences, and working with an extraordinary team of Icelanders. A short film of 23 minutes long, packed with music and movements.

Erna Ómarsdóttir on choreography (with whom I worked years before on a short piece) with the Icelandic Dance Company, Thor Elíasson on camera (the very first time I didn't hold myself the camera, what a beautiful challenge it was, and what a great guy), long time friend Hanna Björk Valsdóttir on production...
And for the first time on screen, the stunning Sandrayati Fay, who delivers a mesmerizing performance.

The film was deeply inspired by some words of Lhasa de Sela, that you will hear in the trailer. The loop is looped...
Thanks as well to Árni Thór Árnason for the constant great vibe, to Stefan Demetriou and everybody in the team for making this magic happen.
And a personal, huge, MERCI to the magical Eva, who has been the greatest collaborator I could imagine on this acid trip.

Life is nothing but a theatre, only the brave ones can go behind the curtains...
We hope you will enjoy. The film will gets it release in 2021.


WATCH