Winner of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard competition, this touching and wry Icelandic comedy wittily portrays the connection between man and beast. For brothers Gummi and Kiddi, who haven’t spoken to one another in 40 years, their lambs are their life. When Kiddi fires a bullet into Gummi’s window for being a poor loser in a sheep competition, the relationship fractures further. But after a mysterious outbreak of scrapie leads officials to decree that all local sheep must be slaughtered, the siblings are forced to work together in surprising ways to save their beloved creatures. Hakonarson’s second film, with its breathtaking photography, sly humor, and pathos, evinces a documentarian’s eye for the hardships and heartaches of rural farm life. From the put-upon sheepdog who serves as the brothers’ only mode of communication to the desperate acts each man takes to save his sheep,
Rams offers an indelibly artful depiction of animal husbandry.
Co-presented by
Icelandic Association of Northern California