An old man comes home with the ashes of his dead wife in an urn. As he waits for the kettle to boil, the relentless hissing of boiling water brings to mind memories. There is nothing ahead for the old man, only a lack of purpose, a sense of loss and loneliness. He embarks on a journey.

Guðbergur Bergsson’s novel, Missir (1932), explores the theme of mortality and how we cope with the loss that inevitably follows. It portrays the journey of an elderly man grieving the death of his pianist wife, who had gradually lost her memories and dreams. He tries to fill the void by pouring her ashes into a cup of hot water daily, a ritual reflecting his obsession and longing for her. However, he is able to reunite with her metaphorically through vivid recollections.

The film adaptation of the novel highlights the universal nature of loss and grief, as we all experience the pain of separation from loved ones at some point in our lives. The changing seasons play a significant role in the film, symbolizing the cyclical nature of life and death. The sound and image create a sensory experience that conveys the protagonist’s emotional journey.

As a filmmaker and a visual artist, I was inspired to visualize the novel’s themes and reflect on my own experiences of loss. The film captures the mystery of human consciousness, which makes life simultaneously magical, beautiful, and painful. Ultimately, the old man sails into a dreamscape where he is reunited with his wife, offering a poignant message of hope and resilience in the face of mortality.

Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon was born in 1968 in Reykjavik, Iceland, to an Icelandic father who was a playwright, film and theatre director and a Siberian-Yakutian mother who is an actress and visual artist. His mother graduated from the acting school GITIS in Moscow and his father graduated from the legendary film school VGIK where his parents actually first met. They moved to Reykjavik, Iceland from Moscow in 1966 after his father lost faith in the utopian dream of the USSR.

Magnússon lived in Aarhus, Danmark 1979-83. He moved to Paris in 1989 and studied at the Sorbonne University 1990-91. He earned a BFA in fine arts from Parsons Paris School of Art and Design, 1991-96. Since then he has exhibited his paintings, installations and video work in galleries in Iceland, Denmark, France, England, the USA, China, Argentina, Russia and Siberia.

Magnússon has written, directed, produced and co-produced documentary films from 1993, he calls them The Cultural Thriller Movie Series and they have been shown all around the world. He has received several awards and was nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize in 2005 for his documentary Screaming Masterpiece, an international film festival darling led by Björk and Sigur Rós.

Magnússon premiered his first narrative feature film MIHKEL, at the 2018 Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, in competition at the Warsaw International Film Festival in Poland, and cinema release in Estonia and Iceland the same year. A dramatic film based on a real-life tragedy that took place in Iceland in 2004, involving two childhood friends from Estonia: Produced by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Evil Doghouse, Amrion Production and Truenorth with full production support from KMÍ the Icelandic film Centre and development support MEDIA Programme of the European Union.

Ergis Film Production was established in 2002. The company’s focus has been on documentaries, mostly on artists, and the company has been involved with major working artists: Björk, Erró, Sigur Rós, Gudbergur Bergsson, Thor Vilhjálmsson, Ólafur Elíasson, Sigurdur Gudmundsson, Alain Robbe Grillet, David Lynch, Kristján Gudmundsson, Matthew Barney and Yoko Ono. Magnusson has worked closely with a team of experienced professionals: producer and film director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Los Angeles-based film producer Sigurjón Sighvatsson, writer Jón Proppé and co-director of the Serpentine Gallery in London, Hans Ulrich Obrist.

Epilogues is a co-production between Iceland, Belgium, and Norway that brings together an exceptional cast of veteran actors to explore the topic of ageing and loss. Shot in the rain and snow of Reykjavík, Iceland, and the foggy, green, and partially sunny Faroe Islands.

Based on the critically acclaimed novel LOSS by Gudbergur Bergsson, one of the giants of Icelandic literature, the film tells the story of an older man who has recently lost his wife. By mixing her ashes in a cup of hot water and drinking it, she appears to him, and he reminisces about their life together. With the help of his cheerful neighbour, the old man embarks on a journey to find a foothold and a purpose in life, encountering an array of colourful characters along the way.

What sets Epilogues apart is its exceptional cast, led by the 84-year-old actor Þorsteinn Gunnarsson, who brings the main character, the Man, to life in a beautiful and sincere way. Alongside him are an assembly of veteran actors including Guðrún S Gísladóttir in the role of the Wife who as a young actress played Maria in Tarkovsky’s “The Sacrifice”. The other actor, Sigurður Sigurjónsson, in the role of the Friend played one of the lead characters in the successful Icelandic film “Rams”. Tómas Lemarquis and Árni Pétur Guðjónsson, also add depth and complexity to this already compelling story.

Throughout the film, the audience is mesmerized by the stunning cinematography of Bergteinn Björgúlfsson, and the score, composed by Gyða Valtýsdóttir, adds another layer of emotional depth to this already powerful story.

Epilogues is a highly relevant film in today´s society, exploring a topic that is often overlooked but ever so relevant: losing one’s partner late in life. The main target audience is educated men and women between the ages of 30-80 years primarily. Epilogues(LOSS) was first presented in 2020 as part of New Nordic Films during the International Film Festival in Haugesund, Norway. In 2021 New Nordic Films in collaboration with Cannes’ Marché de Film selected Loss to be one of 29 projects from all over the world to participate in its Coproduction Day.

Epilogue is a beautiful and thought-provoking film that explores important themes about ageing and loss, with an exceptional cast and stunning cinematography. The fact that it is based on a book by one of Iceland’s most important authors and has been selected for important co-production markets is a testament to its quality and relevance. In our view, the audience will want to explore the film‘s themes as well as experience its beauty and poignancy.

Fridrik Thor Fridriksson started his filmmaking carrier with a series of experimental films and documentaries in the early 1980s. In 1987, he founded The Icelandic Film Corporation, which was Iceland’s most important production company for over 20 years, producing Fridrikssons films as well as working with other Icelandic directors and producers. Through Fridriksson’s international reputation, the company built a network of internationally well-established co-production partner companies, including Lars von Triers Zentropa and Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope. As a director, Fridriksson gained international recognition and critical acclaim with his second feature „Children of Nature (1991)“ which was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film.

Growing up in Iceland in the sixties, Fridriksson was influenced by American films but his exposure to Kurosawa’s works as well as European cinema was of crucial importance in his decision to become a filmmaker. Fridriksson has a degree in Fine Art and during his college years, he ran a film club and an art gallery. Fridriksson has been acclaimed for the strong visual style of his films and his gift for stunning images. His films combine a wry sense of humour and genuine solidarity with the characters. Fridriksson’s films are both deeply personal and have a strong rooting in Icelandic culture often depicting characters at the crossroads of tradition and modernity.

Uniquely Fridriksson’s films have both touched a chord with local audiences in Iceland who have flocked to see Fridriksson’s vision of themselves (more than 50% of the Icelandic population saw his film, ‘Angels Of The Universe’, released in 2000) as well as moved audiences from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.

Fridriksson’s own identity as a filmmaker is that of a storyteller within a tradition that goes back to the writers of the Icelandic Sagas, more than a thousand years ago. Fridriksson’s films have been a great influence on younger generations of Icelandic film directors.

For the past three decades, Fridrik Thor has been one of the driving forces behind the development of the Icelandic film industry as well as playing a pivotal role in nurturing new talent as a producer.