Academy Awards night is almost upon us, and as the evening draws near hints about the nominees, both artists and movies, begin to pop up on the Internet.
No Icelandic movie has been nominated this year—go figure! However, Icelanders are notoriously good at infiltrating foreign institutions and Hollywood is no exception. Thus, even though we won’t see one of our own beloved actors wiping their tears off their faces as they thank their parents on stage, a hardworking Icelander has found herself in the proud crew of animated movie ‘The Breadwinner.’
The power of storytelling
Helga Kristjana Bjarnadóttir, who graduated from the Irish School of Animation, worked in the Animation Department alongside men and women who believed in this project. “I’m so incredibly proud to have been a part of this film, and I’m so happy it’s getting the recognition it deserves,” she writes. “I’m so proud of everyone on the team!”
And rightly so. With an emotionally charged story and magical animation that’s reminescent of a dream, ‘The Breadwinner’ seems indeed like a winner itself. Directed by Nora Twomey and produced by Angelina Jolie, this intense story about 11 year-old Parvana takes you to 2001 Afghanistan. When Parvana’s beloved father is kidnapped by the Taliban, Parvana cuts her hair like a boy and sets off to find him and bring him back home. The stories he used to tell her are the only things she’s got left.
‘The Breadwinner’ is a movie about a little girl, directed and produced by women, but it’s a movie for everybody—children and adults alike—made to remind us that even when we haven’t gotten much, we still have a voice that can be heard. It proves that stories have power—that even in the darkest hours, “stories remain in our hearts even when everything else is gone.”
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