At the beginning of this year I would have never imagined that one of my cinematic highlights would be an Icelandic feature about estranged sheep farmers, but Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams is a film filled with such deep humour and an even deeper humanity, that I was rapt from its opening frames. Grimur joins us on the podcast to share how he overcame challenges of funding, weather and sheep casting, to scoop the prestigious Un Certain Regard award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

In a remote Icelandic farming valley, two brothers who haven’t spoken in 40 years have to come together in order to save what’s dearest to them – their sheep.

I had to think about the spiritual quality of the sheep, and then the material quality of the sheep.