The Icelandic film When The Light Breaks, directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson, is one of seven films nominated for the 2025 Nordic Council Film Prize. The film was selected as the best movie of the year at the 2025 Edda awards and has received numerous accolades worldwide.
The film follows Una — portrayed by Elín Hall — a young art student who encounters love, friendship, sorrow and beauty.
As stated by the Nordic Council rationale, When The Light Breaks “explores the fragility of life and how everything can change in an instant. Rúnar Rúnarsson’s poetic realism prioritises the unsaid over the spoken, while unexpected moments of humour weave through the narrative. By allowing the tragic and the humorous to coexist, Rúnar resists a one-dimensional portrayal of grief, ensuring the film reflects the full — and often contradictory — spectrum of human emotions.”
The 2025 nominations consist of the following:
- Denmark: Min Evige Sommer, directed by Sylvia Le Fanu, written by Mads Lind Knudsen and Sylvia Le Fanu
- Finland: The Helsinki Effect, directed and written by Arthur Franck
- Faroe Islands: Seinasta paradís á jørð, directed by Sakaris Stóra, written by Tommy Oksen, Mads Stegger and Sakaris Stórá
- Greenland: WALLS – Akinni Inuk, directed by Sofie Rørdam and Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg
- Norway: Drømmer, directed and written by Dag Johan Haugerud
- Sweden: Israel Palestine på svensk tv 1958-1989, directed and written by Höran Hugo Olsson
The 2025 Nordic Council Film Prize winners will be announced on October 21.
Days before his film’s premiere in Iceland, Grapevine writer Iryna Zubenko met up with director Rúnar Rúnarsson.
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