30/10/2008

The Icelandic filmmaker Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, nominated for an Oscar for Children of Nature and who has not made a feature film since 2004, is preparing his new project, Mamma Gogo, to be co-produced by Filmhuset (Norway) and Pandora (Germany).

“Mamma Gogo is the story of a director who is releasing Children of Nature and losing a lot of money. At the same time, his mother is suffering from Alzheimers,” Fridriksson told Cineuropa. “It’s based on things I experienced during my financial problems and at the same time having to deal with my mother’s illness. But I’m trying to look at it in a funny way. So it will be like a crazy comedy about filmmaking and Alzheimers!”

The film will start shooting before Christmas in Reykjavik and in the countryside where Fridriksson shot Children of Nature and Movie Days. It will star Kristbjörg Kjeld (Country Wedding [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) as Fridriksson’s mother and Hilmir Sbaer Guðnason (101 Reykjavik).

Fridriksson set up the Icelandic Film Corporation in 1987, which for over a decade produced or co-produced the majority of Icelandic films, establishing long term relationships with foreign partners. However, due to financial difficulties the veteran filmmaker/producer had to close down his company.

“We’re now back on track and starting from scratch,” says Fridriksson. His new (yet unnamed) company will produce Mamma Gogo with two European partners that supported his previous works, Filmhuset (co-producer of Falcons) and Pandora (Cold Fever). The film is also co-financed by the Icelandic Film Centre, the Icelandic and Swedish public broadcasters RUV and SVT, and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Meanwhile, the theatrical release of Fridriksson’s documentary Sunshine Boy, about an autistic child, has been postponed by three months to January 2009, due to the current financial crisis hitting the entire Icelandic film industry.