Interview: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson – Beautiful Beings

In anticipation of the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, I conversed with Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, whose sophomore film Beautiful Beings is Iceland’s official submission in consideration for the Best International Feature Category. The director shares thoughts on origins, inspirations, casting and his rehearsal process working with first time child actors. Having premiered his latest work at the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti program, Guðmundsson muses on his interests in mining the sometimes tragic and often devastating reality of preadolescence in a world of preoccupied and detached adults. Here is our conversation: