The Love That Remains
(Ástin sem eftir er)
Hlynur Pálmason
Anna and Magnus are in the midst of seperation, but this new film by Icelander Hlyunur Pálmason refuses to reveal their reasonings. Magnus, known as Maggi, works on a fishing trawler and is away most of the time. Anna is an artist and creates large-scale abstract works by letting sheet metal weather away on canvas. Their three children are doing their own thing. Family life somehow carries on between family trips and shared meals. Now and then, there remains an erotic allure, intimacy and a sense of responsibility, which the film explores with its eccentric humour. Hlynur Pálmason has become one of the shooting stars of Icelandic cinema in recent years, venturing into something new with every film. A White, White Day (2019) was a compelling revenge thriller, and photographs were a focal point of Godland (2022), a movie about a clergyman who was sent to the island from Denmark. In his most recent film that spans over a year, Pálmason cultivates an eccentric and surreal humour alongside scenes of everyday domestic life. Just as Anna's artworks need the natural elements to rust, this film incorporates the Icelandic landscape shot in 35mm images as an active participant.
30 April 2026
18:30 h, Elysee 1 im Festivalzentrum
More information
| Direction | Hlynur Pálmason |
| Country | Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France |
| Production year | 2025 |
| Duration | 109 min |
| Language | Icelandic |
| Language Version | OV with German Subs |
| Genre | Drama, Comedy |
| Production | Anton Máni Svansson, Katrin Pors, Rémi Burah |
| Production company | Still Vivid, Snowglobe Films, Hobab, Maneki Films, Film i Väst, ARTE |
| Co-production | Mikkel Jersin, Kristina Börjeson, Didar Domehri, Eva Jakobsen, Anthony Muir, Olivier Père, Nima Yousefi |
| Distribution | Plaion |
| Cast | Panda, Saga Garðarsdóttir, Sverrir Gudnason, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson |
| Director of Photography | Hlynur Pálmason |
| Script | Hlynur Pálmason |
| Montage | Julius Krebs Damsbo |
| Sound | Pétur Einarsson |
| Music | Harry Hunt |
| Sound Design | Heikki Kossi, Dennis Leonard, Björn Viktorsson |
| Scenography | Frosti Fridriksson |
CANNES 2025: BEST DOG
About the director
Icelandic director and visual artist Hlynur Pálmason, born in 1984, studied directing at the National Film School of Denmark, graduating in 2013 with his short film A Painter (2013). After working on a few more short films, he presented Winter Brothers in Locarno in 2027. His second feature film, revenge story A White, White Day, premiered in Cannes and won the top prize at the Nordische Filmtage in Lübeck. Godland (2022) tells the story of a young Danish priest in the nineteenth century who travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church days. Nature plays an integral part of all of his movies.
Press reviews
“Pálmason’s wistful compositions, frequently unfolding in beautiful still tableaus, take on interesting shades, whether he’s going for kitchen-sink realism or the kinds of flights of fancy reserved for Roy Andersson pictures. It all feels so very sad, but also warm and rewarding, in much the same way we reminisce about our own childhoods, or the relationships that didn’t work out.” (RogerEbert.com)
“Pálmason examines this gradual tearing with warmth and compassion for all parties, attentive to stray moments of calm or joy that arrive even amid larger emotional turmoil.” (Variety)
Moved to Elysee 1, Massif E
International Feature Film Program
