12/04/2007

Julíus Kemp, co-founder of the Icelandic Film Company (IFC), is supervising post-production of comedy feature Dorks & Damsels by first-time director Gunnar B. Gudmundsson and getting ready to direct his second feature, horror film RWWM (Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre). Both films are co-produced by F&ME in the UK and Solar Films in Finland.

“After making the successful Eleven Men Out with F&ME and Solar, we just wanted to continue working together”, said Kemp.

Dorks & Damsels (previously known as Astropia) stars the former Miss Iceland, Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir, as the spoilt and beautiful Hildur who has to deal with the real world when her boyfriend Jolli is sent to prison. She gets a job in a comic book store and discovers that she can stand on her own feet.

However, the day Jolli escapes from jail and kidnaps her, the line between fantasy and reality starts to blur and new adventures begin as her friends from the shop try to rescue her.

The €1.2m Icelandic/Finnish/UK co-production was supported by the Icelandic Film Centre and Iceland’s Ministry of Industry. Kemp said the film will not be ready for Cannes but more likely for Toronto. SamFilm will release it in Iceland on August 22. No sales agent has been appointed yet.

Kemp, who has not directed a feature film since his 1997 Blossi/810551, will start filming RWWR in September, based on a script by established Icelandic writer and poet Sjon. It is an epic tale about a group of whale watchers whose ship breaks down. When they get picked up by a whale-hunting boat, events spin out of control.

Described as a cross between The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Blair Witch Project, combined with the dark humour of The Evil Dead, the €3m project will feature an Icelandic and UK cast.

Beforehand, however, Kemp and his production partner Ingvar Thordarson will co-produce another horror film – Dark Floors, featuring the Finnish hard-rock band Lordi and produced by Solar Films.