Perspective Film Series Presents:
Beautiful Beings (Berdreymi)
Dir. Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Sunday, November 19
5:30-7:30 PM
2022 | Icelandic | 123 mins
This month’s perspective focuses on the expressive curiosity and exploration of boyhood and coming-of-age in a society riddled with toxic heteronormativity. How much of who we become is the consequence of coping? What biases do we carry forward in a seemingly happy society? Despite being filmed in Iceland, considered to be the third happiest country in the world, the beautiful and idealized landscape still contains fractured relationships, shame, and violence for young boys on their way to becoming men.
FREE with $10 admission to Contemporary Calgary. FREE for members. Our galleries are open 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the events.
Sunday, November 19
Doors: 5:00 PM
Screening: 5:30 PM
Q&A to follow.
FREE with $10 admission to Contemporary Calgary. FREE for members.
Synopsis
Addi, a boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, decides to adopt a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders. Left to their own devices, the boys explore aggression and violence but also learn about loyalty and love. As the group’s behavior escalates towards life-threatening situations, Addi begins to experience a series of dreamlike visions. Narrated by the desire for more, a seemingly transcendent and omnipresent perspective lives within the lead actor’s dreams, using magic realism as a tool to express the nuances of self-discovery. Can his newfound intuition guide him and his friends back to a safer path, or will they dive irrevocably into further violence?
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Icelandic
Director: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Producer: Anton Máni Svansson
Writer: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Distributor: Altered Innocence
About the Curator:
Alia Aluma (she/her)
Alia Aluma is an award-winning artist, designer, and writer who works in various industries, including academia, philanthropy, and creative. She has lived, worked, and studied on four different continents, gaining notable experiences with the fashion and fine art networks of Hong Kong, as a muralist in Italy, a fashion photographer in England, and creative director, curator, and designer in Calgary, AB. With three degrees from top ranked global universities, Alia also devotes a great deal of time to education as a public speaker, guest instructor, or mentor in her fields of study: Art & History, Communications, Commerce, Film, and World Culture. Her global and enriching experiences have lent her toward a pursuit in philanthropy, starting the Aluma Foundation with her Father and twin brother, which is a scholarship foundation in Uganda for students at all levels. Among all of this, Alia also donates hundreds of hours to in-kind services annually.
