Sailcloth by Icelandic director Elfar Aðalsteinsson is among the short films tipped to land an Oscar nomination next month. The Icelandic director revealed that the movie was inspired by his granddad's death, as stated on imdb.com.

"I was raised by my grandparents in a small fishing village on the East Coast of Iceland, as far away from the capital as you can get. My grandfather passed away in 2008 and the idea came to me a year later and I gradually built it up in my head. He withered away in a nursing home where he spent his last seven years. So, possibly I just wrote him an alternative exit," Elfar said.

Starring John Hurt, the film features a pensioner who takes his life at sea after escaping a home for the elderly.

Hurt is also very proud of the short, adding, "It's a glorious exit, I think. That’s what I love about the film. It’s about suicide so everybody thinks that it's got to be gloomy, it's got to be miserable. But I don't think it is. I think it's a fantastic celebration."

The film was shot by Icelandic cinema-photographer Karl Óskarsson.

Meanwhile, the Icelandic feature film Volcano by Rúnar Rúnarsson has dropped out of the race for an Oscar nomination as the best foreign-language film, ruv.is reports.

Iceland