TOP 10 MUST, premieres on October 11th

"The artist Arna has gotten bored with life and decides to make a top 10 list of things she wants to do before she dies. She sets off on a journey where she intends to end up in the east fjords. At the same time, the eternal prisoner Mjöll has found out that the father of her child, who lives in Egilsstaðir, wants his new woman to adopt their daughter. So she escapes from the prison and at a gas station on her way out of town she finds a ride in Arna's car. This unlikely duo now have to work together to travel across the country and complete the top 10 must list."

We had a little chat with Ólöf Birna and got to know a bit about her latest project

-Where did the idea for the story come from?

I started fiddling with the idea in 2018 and at the time Arna's character was the main input. I came up with this idea of a top 10 list, kind of like a bucket list and thought it could be a good thread for a comedy. At the same time, I was having many conversations with a close relative who was struggling with himself, he was in the middle of a diagnosis process but had been very down for the past few years. When you have these conversations you feel so helpless, I want to help but I don't know what to do. The idea with Arna started to deepen a little there, what if this was her own list that she controlled herself how and when it would end. Mjöll then comes in as the bomb that destroys all the plans and puts things out of control. I have often compared this movie to the Swedish movie "A Man Called Ove" which I think is great. It's about a man who has lost his wife and wants nothing more than to go and just be with her in the afterlife. However, a couple is moving in across the street and they drove the moving truck onto the sidewalk right up to building which is strictly building. He, of course, has to deal with this lot first and teach them the rules in the neighborhood. I saw this movie many years ago and thought it was so well done. This is the biggest inspiration for the idea of ​​TOP 10 MUST.

-How was the process from writing to filming?

I started developing this idea in 2018. I remember that I received the first script grant in the summer of 2019 when I was filming "Classy Tramp". I then continued working on manuscript grant no. 2, got a refusal, tried to take this idea to Handritssmidja SKL 2019 I believe, but didn't get in there. Then I just let it lie and worked on other things in the meantime. Then I took it up again in 2021, got script grant no.2 and with my company MyrkvaMyndir we got script grant no.3 also in early 2022. We were, we thought, ready to shoot in the fall of 2022 but we were advised to postpone for a year, which you never want to do but in this case it was a blessing. By then I had hired Helga and Tanya for the main roles and we just made good use of the time, we started rehearsing the scenes more on the floor and went deeper into the script. I applied for SKL's script workshop again and got it in there this time. It was all "meant to be" as they say. Thus in August 2023 we were ready. The filming went extremely well and it was quite obvious that the practice I did with the actresses saved us a lot of time on set.

-What determined the choice of actors and crew?

I envisioned Helga quite early in the process, and after she came to mind, no one else was considered for the role of Arna. I had auditions for the role of Mjöll, and there Tanja performed excellently as the other half of this duo. They really play well off each other and I couldn't be happier with their work in the film. I needed a cameraman, Dop, since the person I usually worked with was busy with other things at the time, so I posted an ad and Birta Rán answered. We met for a cup of coffee, she was two semesters behind me in film school, so I knew of her in that way, but nothing personally, we hadn't worked together much. But I've been watching her and what she's doing and I think she's a great talent, so I thought why not, I think we'll hit it off and that's exactly what we did. It was a wonderful collaboration between us.

-How did filming the movie go?

There was some inexplicable cowboy mood on set. By that I mean literally, people were cowboys, so much so that outsiders were asking if we were making a cowboy movie. This is not a cowboy movie. It just happened. It all started with one knot that the boys in the camera department were learning, the next thing I know they have bought a lasso and are practicing "catching" this and that. Abandoned light stands were most at risk there. Then one shows up with a cowboy hat, then the next and the next and before I knew it we were all wearing hats, plaid shirts, jeans, some with guns others with lassos. One of them had the spurs on as well, and this didn't stop after filming. There were several people who took this with them, it is no longer a joke on set, it has become a way of life.

-How was the post-production?

Slow at first, but then we got the help of Elísabet Ronalds, who took it upon herself to edit the film. What an honor to have the opportunity to work with her. She's so amazing, she just understands the visual form, the visual narrative so well and seemed to just see right away how this movie should come together which was incredibly satisfying to watch. After the editing was done, everything else started to roll and has gone reasonably well to finish. I am very excited for you to hear Una Stef's music. She does all the music in this movie which is brilliant, puts it on another level.

-How do you feel now that the job is done?

I am optimistic about this. I believe we managed to make a decently good movie. I am very excited to show it in the country's cinemas on October 11, 2024.

-And finally, do you have any advice for future filmmakers?

Be 100% sure this is something you want and are willing to go after. Because this is incredibly difficult, it's 100 no to 1 yes. It's up to you to make things happen.