Janus Films Acquires North American Rights to Hlynur Palmason’s ‘The Love That Remains’ Following Cannes Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)

Janus Films has acquired all North American rights to “The Love That Remains,” the new film from “Godland” director Hlynur Pálmason, which world premiered in Cannes Premieres at this month’s Cannes Film Festival. The deal was negotiated by Janus Films and New Europe Film Sales.

The acquisition marks the second collaboration between Janus Films and Pálmason, following “Godland, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival and was shortlisted for best international feature film at the 2024 Academy Awards.

“The Love That Remains” centers around a year in the life of a family as the parents navigate their separation. “Through both playful and heartfelt moments, the film portrays the bittersweet essence of faded love and shared memories amidst the changing seasons,” according to a statement.

The film stars Saga Garðarsdóttir (“Woman at War”), Sverrir Gudnason (“Borg Vs. McEnroe”), Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir (“Godland”), Þorgils Hlynsson (“Nest”) and Grímur Hlynsson (“Nest”).

Janus Films commented, “Hlynur Pálmason’s new film, ‘The Love That Remains,’ is the perfect antidote to the terminally online times we are living in. As gorgeously shot as his majestic ‘Godland,’ this playful, funny, very contemporary new film celebrates family, beauty, danger, love, work, and the natural world with a fearless freedom that makes it feel truly alive. We are thrilled to be continuing our journey with Hlynur and can’t wait to share this film with audiences across North America.”

Pálmason said: “I am happy and honored to be working along with Janus Films again and looking forward to presenting the film for our audiences in North America. We had a great collaboration on ‘Godland’ and I‘m glad we are able to build upon that with such a different film.”

The film won the Palm Dog award, which went to Pálmason’s Icelandic sheepdog, Panda, for best canine performance of the festival.

“The Love That Remains” was produced by Anton Máni Svansson at Still Vivid, Katrin Pors at Snowglobe; and co-produced by Hobab, Maneki Films, Film i Väst and Arte France Cinema.

Financial support came from the Icelandic Film Centre, Icelandic Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs, Danish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Swedish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Creative Europe MEDIA, Hornafjörður Municipality, RÚV, Jour2Fête, ARTE, Max Distribution, SVT and DR.

Janus Films’ past releases include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Academy Award winner “Drive My Car,” Jerzy Skolimowski’s Academy Award nominated “Eo,” Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “All We Imagine As Light” and Gints Zibalodis’ “Flow,” which became their highest grossing film at the box office and won the Academy Award for best animated feature.

So far, this year, Janus has released Alain Guiraudie’s “Misericordia,” David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds” and Jia Zhangke’s “Caught by the Tides.” Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s thriller “Cloud” will open in July and Ira Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day” is slated for fall release. Janus Films also just announced the acquisition of “Resurrection” from Bi Gan, which premiered in Competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.