Fantasia Fest: Helmer Kasper Kalle, Star Egor Venned Discuss the Gay-Themed Gem ‘No Rest For the Wicked’ [VIDEO]

Kasper Kalle’s dark and striking debut feature, No Rest for the Wicked, is based on a little-known short story, Manor, by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, published in 1884–an unrepentant gay love story set in the remote Faroe Islands, part of the Kingdom of Denmark in the North Atlantic.

This stunning, strangely moving film centers on Baldur (Egor Venned) a handsome young fisherman who leads a simple life with his widowed mother, Ásla (Sofia Nolsøe). His world changes when a rugged whaler, Helge (Game of Thrones’ Pilou Asbæk) saves his life. A mutual attraction between the two men develops, much to the upset and consternation of Ásla, who had been crushing on Helge as well as the religiously conservative community. But the men act on their urges and fall in love. When a whaling ship arrives, Baldur decides to run off with Helge. But tragedy strikes and the film takes a mystical, supernatural turn.

Kalle shows great promise as a filmmaker taking the audience on an intense, claustrophobic journey where notions of manhood and expectation are challenged and a rigid society is forced to deal with forbidden passion and love.

This is model-turned-actor Venned’s film debut which is truly astonishing because he’s such a natural onscreen. The camera simply adores him. Kalle’s refreshingly sparse screenplay means that so much of the story is told with faces in close up. Venned’s expressive, sometimes subdued, often enigmatic reactions are key to the success of the film. The thesp should have quite the career ahead of him.

Provided it is eligible, No Rest for the Wicked should definitely be considered by Denmark for its International Feature Oscar submission.

The film world premieres at Fantasia Fest on July 22nd and has another showing July 25th. TICKETS

The Contending had a fab time chatting with both Kalle and Venned.