The Icelandic film by Of Horses and Men’s Benedikt Erlingsson is set to start shooting in July.

EXCLUSIVE- A Woman at War (Fjallkona fer í stríð) is written by Erlingsson together with Ólafur Egill Egilsson (Trapped).

The story follows a single woman in her late forties who declares war to the heavy industry in her untouched Icelandic highlands. She turns to sabotage and is prepared to risk everything to fight climate change and international corporations, until an orphan enters her life.

“It’s an action arthouse thriller…and a musical! And of course, it’s about saving the world,” said the director to nordicfilmandtvnews.com. "The woman is a green warrior, a radical environmental activist. She is also a choir conductor, and in her quest, she is escorted by a radical trio of musicians, invisible to her but visible to the audience. They are like a Greek choir, representing her inner demons, interacting with her.”

The film is produced Erlingsson, together with Paris-based Danish producer Marianne Slot (Slot Machine), long-time collaborator to Zentropa Entertainment. “I met Benedikt in 2005 on Lars von Trier’s The Boss of it All in which he did some fine acting. We met again years later in San Sebastian where he won Best New Director with his feature debut Of Horses and Men. I declared my love to his filmmaking and my desire to work with him. A year later he came back with an irresistible proposition to develop his new film with me, A Woman at War, a poetic funny and serious environmental arthouse action thriller!”

The €2.4m film is supported by the Icelandic Film Centre, the French Fondation Gan and CNC. Principal photography in Iceland and Ukraine will last from July 11 until the end of August.

German sales agent Beta Cinema will introduce the film in Cannes where cast and crew members and co-producers will be announced.