Joan of Arc
Hlynur Pálmason / Iceland & Denmark / 2025 / 62 min
As the seasons change, three young siblings build a knight figure as a target in a field on the edge of the world. A minimalist and very funny film by Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason.
On the edge of the world, in the beautiful countryside on the east coast of Iceland, two twin boys have started digging a huge hole. When the hole is deep enough, they stick a long piece of timber into it and fill it up again. Now the timber stands like a stump in the middle of it all. Their big sister joins them and together they build a knight figure, which they tie to the stump. Perfect. Now they have a target to shoot arrows at, even though their father has told them not to shoot bows and arrows when he is not at home.
But they don’t care, because he is never home anyway, and now the knight, whom their big sister has named Joan of Arc – because women can be knights too – is to be pierced by arrows. The camera remains motionless throughout Joan of Arc, and the fact that it never gets boring is thanks to the three children in front of the camera and, of course, their father: Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason. A beautiful and very funny portrait of the passage of time, children’s games and the ever-changing Icelandic climate.