Gnarr
A few years ago when the developed world was booming the bankers and stockbrokers thought the gravy train would never end. Now we all know what came next. The same thing that always comes next - Banking collapse, false wars, and recession. No country epitomized this rise and fall better than Iceland. The country saw itself as an economic supernova too rich to fail, but also incorruptible and politically transparent. A success story for the rest of the world to envy and admire, then in a matter of weeks Iceland went from the spoiled bastard child of Scandinavia, where no one had to worry about anything except how big a jeep they could afford, to being bankrupt. Their biggest heroes, the financial wizards, who only a few years ago were looked upon as Gods ruling over their own Garden of Eden in the North Atlantic were all thrown in jail.
Saturday, September 18, 2010If this wasn’t enough the very earth under the Icelanders feet started shaking and erupting, stopping air traffic and spitting thick layers of volcanic ash all over the world. Iceland was on its knees. Amongst the chaos politics staggered on and an election of new leaders began. For the jaded people whose lives had been changed so drastically, something needed to be done.
Against this backdrop the Idea of The Best Party was born. It started out as a joke inside the head of Iceland’s most cynical and most controversial comedian Jon Gnarr. The Idea was to poke fun at the establishment that had failed so spectacularly. Parody the arrogance of the "left" "right" parties and their false morality, by showing how ridiculous they all were. The Best Parties agenda was simple honest, and outrageous – In these hard times Mr. Gnarr wanted a secure, comfortable, and highly paid job with absolute power to hire his close friends for all the other important and influential jobs as well. The party promised an incorruptible and a drug free parliament by the year 2020 and Mr. Gnarr made it clear that he would not talk to any of the other party's unless they had watched the entire 5 seasons of the "The Wire."
Saturday, September 18, 2010; As the real election began, driven on by Tina Turners cheesy 80’s rock anthem “Simply the Best”, the Best Parties election campaign had developed an unstoppable momentum of its own. Coming top in all the poles Mr. Gnarr had hit a nerve and unsuspected become a voice for a disenfranchised people. By Election Day something incredible was about to happen.
The feel good ending of this “Mr. Smith Comes to Town” for our brave new world is an uplifting one. Jon Gnarr really won and is now the Mayor of Reykjavik. His friends have jobs and the Wire is being watched by the opposition with great interest.
The message of the film is simple and positive. The deeper the shit you are in the more you should laugh, because out of disaster, heroes can come from unlikely places.
Crew
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Directed by
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Director of Photography
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Editor
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Producer
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Co-Producer
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Sound Design
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Sound Recordist
About the film
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TypeDocumentary
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National Premiere DateNovember 12, 2010, Sambíó
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GenreComedy
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Length96 min.
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LanguageIcelandic
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Original TitleGnarr
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International TitleGnarr
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Production Year2010
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Production CountriesIceland
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IMDB
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Icelandic Film Centre GrantNo
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Production FormatCanon Digital
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Aspect Ratio16:9
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ColorYes
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SoundDolby Digital
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Screening format and subtitlesDCP with English sub. -
Festivals
- 2016Ultima Thule, ýmsir sýningarstaðir, Pólland
- 2015Malmöfestivalen
- 20124 Steps into the Great North - Icelandic Days, Rome, Italy
- 2012REC Festival Internacional de Cinema de Tarragona, Tarragona, Spain
- 2012International Film Festival Message to Man, St. Petersburg, Russia,
- 2012Planate Doc Film Festival, Poland
- 2011Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival
- 2011Trondheim Documentary Festival
- 2011Leeds International Film Festival
- 2011CPH: DOX
- 2011Tribeca Film Festival
- 2011Filmfest Hamburg
- 2011Zurich International Film Festival
- 2011Helsinki International Film Festival
- 2011Gimli Film Festival
- 2011Traverse City Film Festival - Award: Founders Prize for Best Foreign Documentary. World Documentary Jury Award for Best Direction in a Foreign Documentary.
- 2011Galway Film Fleadh, Ireland
- 2011Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival, Toronto
- 2011Edduverðlaunin / Edda Awards - Award: Nominated for documantary of the Year.
