Two Birds (film)

Two Birds (Icelandic: Smáfuglar, lit. little birds) is a 2008 Icelandic short film, written and directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson. The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for a Palme d'Or. In the two years after its release it received over 67 international awards at film festivals where it was exhibited, including two Best Actor awards for male lead Atli Óskar Fjalarsson.^[1][2]

Two Birds (Smáfuglar)
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rúnar Rúnarsson
Written by	Rúnar Rúnarsson
Produced by	Þórir S. Sigurjónsson Skúli Fr. Malmquist Hlín Jóhannesdóttir
Starring	Hera Hilmar Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
Cinematography	Sophia Olsson
Edited by	Jacob Schulsinger
Music by	Kjartan Sveinsson
Production company	Zik Zak Filmworks
Release date	October 3, 2008 (2008-10-03)
Running time	15 minutes
Country	Iceland
Language	Icelandic

Synopsis

The film takes place during one bright summer night and follows a group of young teenagers on a journey from innocence to adulthood. The main character is a timid boy who has a typical schoolboy crush on a girl his age who happens to be a friend of his mate.^[3][4]

Cast

• Hera Hilmar
• Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
• Sigurður Jakob Helgason
• Þórunn Jakobsdóttir
• Gísli Örn Garðarsson
• Víkingur Kristjánsson
• Ómar Örn Hauksson

Critical reception

The website Short of the Week describes Two Birds as "...perhaps the purest and most earnest 15 minutes of film I have ever experienced".^[5]

Other honors

• Nominated for Best Short Film at the 2008 European Film Awards
• Nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival