MetFilm Sales has acquired worldwide rights, excluding Iceland, to Smari Gunn and Logi Sigursveinsson’s directorial debut “The Home Game,” which picked up the audience award at both Nordisk Panorama and the Icelandic documentary Film Fest Skjaldborg.
The film is set to have its North America Premiere at DOCNYC this week and the MetFilm team will be introducing it to buyers at IDFA.
Twenty-five years ago, in a small fishing village in Iceland (population: 369), one man built a soccer field at the foot of a volcano, dreaming of a home game in the national FA Cup. The team was dealt an away fixture and lost 10-0. Nobody ever set foot on the home pitch. Twenty-five years later, a boy resurrects his father’s dream – to play a home game and lose by fewer than 10 goals.
“The Home Game” is produced by Stephanie Thorpe, Heather Millard, Elfar Adalsteins and Freyja Kristinsdottir, and is a Silfurskjár and The Freezer production. The cast includes Kari Vidarsson, Vidar Gylfason, Freydis Bjarnadottir and Gunnar Orn Arnarson.
“Smari and Logi have made an irresistible film that will bring warmth and joy to whomever sees it. It was great to watch this Icelandic gem catch fire at Nordisk Panorama and deservedly pick up the audience award. We are truly excited to be bringing it to the international market,” said Mitch Clare, international sales manager at MetFilm Sales.
“We are thrilled to team up with MetFilm on our international journey with ‘The Home Game.’ MetFilm Sales are the perfect collaborators with their understanding of this heartfelt underdog story and its universal appeal,” Thorpe said.
MetFilm Sales’ slate also includes Swedish festival hit “The Gullspang Miracle,” directed by Maria Fredriksson, Edward Lovelace’s “Name Me Lawand” and “Riders on the Storm” from Red Bull Studios.
