Exclusive: The feature debut of Börkur Sigþórsson produced by Baltasar Kormákur and Agnes Johansen started filming this week. 

The crime thriller written by Sigþórsson tells of a high fly lawyer who gets caught in a spiralling lifestyle. To fix his precarious financial situation, he teams up with his brother, a petty criminal just released from prison, and the two decide to smuggle drugs into Iceland, with the help of a young Polish mule. But when the girl falls sick, the brothers have to figure out how they can salvage the deal.

In the main roles are Gisli Örn Garðarsson (Prisoners, The Oath), Baltasar Breki Samper (Trapped), rising Polish talent Anna Próchniak (The Innocents) and Denmark’ Marjana Jankovic (Everything Will be Fine, Norskov).

Johansen said: “Börkur brought us the script that we liked instantly. We believe he is a great upcoming director. He skilfully directed two episodes of Trapped and then did a TV movie for ITV Studios in the UK. RVK Studios is producing the film with co-financing from RUV and support from the Icelandic Film Centre. West End Films in the UK came on board very early as sales rep and have been very supportive.”

Shooting in Reykjavik and its surroundings will last until April and delivery is set for September 2017.

RVK Studios has several other projects in various stages of production such as the TV series Trapped season 2 and the futuristic thriller Katla. The prolific writer/director/producer Kormákur will next direct the English language survival drama Adrift starring Shailene Woodley and is writing a screen adaptation of Iceland’s literary gem Independent People written by Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness.