Benedikt Erlingsson's multiple FIPRESCI Prize-winning debut is a visually stunning, startlingly original tragicomic collage of human – and animal – behaviour.

Iceland's submission for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, Of Horses and Men weaves together several curious and surprising bestiaries about a rural community of Icelandic folk and their indispensable horses. Oddities of love, sex and death dominate, from absurd tales of human infatuation and equine copulation to darker explorations of human nature versus Mother Nature.

First-time film director Erlingsson, a former stage director and actor who appeared in Lars Von Trier's The Boss of It All (MIFF 2007), revels in his insightful thesis of the shared animalistic instincts of horses and men, juxtaposing both against the almost alien beauty and harshness of the Icelandic vistas. A big-screen must.

"Flabbergasting images and a delightfully dry sense of humor make Of Horses and Men a debut worthy of celebration." – Variety