The Juniper Tree

An unsung talent in her lifetime, director, professor and Fulbright scholar Nietzchka Keene loosely based her stark, stunning debut feature, The Juniper Tree, on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name. Set in medieval Iceland, the tale follows Margit (Björk, in her debut film performance) and her older sister Katla (Bryndis Petra Bragadottir) as they flee for safety after their mother is burned to death for witchcraft. Finding shelter and protection with Johan (Valdimar Orn Fygenring), and his resentful young son, Jonas (Geirlaug Sunna Pormar), the sisters help form an impromptu family unit that’s soon strained by Katla’s burgeoning sorcery. Photographed entirely on location in Iceland in spectacular black-and-white by Randy Sellars, The Juniper Tree is a deeply atmospheric film and potent allegory for misogyny and its attendant tragedies.

New restoration by the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.