Dancer in the Dark

Living in rural America, single mother Selma faces an inexorable challenge: a hereditary eye disease that is slowly robbing her of her sight. To spare her young son from a terrible fate, the Czech immigrant works tirelessly in a steel factory. Alongside her job, she rehearses for a musical—her great passion—and even within the factory, she transforms the deafening roar of machinery into beautiful melodies. The drab factory hall transforms into a colorful dream world, and the rhythmic pounding becomes a captivating beat. As her vision steadily deteriorates, music and her loyal colleague Kathy keep Selma going—until tragedy strikes. The melodramatic Dancer in the Dark paints a raw portrait of maternal love and the power of imagination, where fantasy collides with a bleak reality.

Dancer in the Dark premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or and lead actress Björk took home the award for Best Actress. The following year, the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Writer Sjón will be a guest at the Noordelijk Film Festival for a Spotlight Talk.