Valley of Shadows
Valley of Shadows is the feature film debut of director Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen, in close partnership with cinematographer and brother Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen. Jonas and Marius Matzow Gulbrandsen both attended the National Polish film school in Lodz. Valley of Shadows evokes the delicate intricacy of fairly-tale engravings, instilled with an acute awareness of landscape at its most eerie, powerful, and foreboding. Zbigniew Preisner's atmospeheric orchestral and electronic score features the singing of Lisa Gerrard.
The film is being screened for the first time at the Toronto Film Festival which starts on 7th September. http://www.tiff.net/tiff/film.html?v=valley-of-shadows
Between the sea and the mountains in a small village in Norway, Aslak (aged six) lives with his mother Astrid. A tragic event occurs that Aslak can’t quite understand and Astrid struggles to handle. Aslak’s friend shows him a macabre scene; three half-eaten sheep killed in the forest on a full moon night. In a quest for answers, Aslak ventures into the menacing forest behind his house. Is what happens on his journey merely a boy’s imagination or is it reality?