Iceland

Haunted by the indelible mark of loss and silent grief, sad-eyed María and her taciturn husband, Ingvar, seek solace in back-breaking work and the demanding schedule at their sheep farm in the remote, harsh, wind-swept landscapes of mountainous Iceland. Then, with their relationship hanging on by a thread, something unexplainable happens, and just like that, happiness blesses the couple’s grim household once more. Now, as a painful ending gives birth to a new beginning, Ingvar’s troubled brother, Pétur, arrives at the farmhouse, threatening María and Ingvar’s delicate, newfound bliss. But, nature’s gifts demand sacrifice. How far are ecstatic María and Ingvar willing to go in the name of love?Read More »

A handful of idealistic twenty-somethings discover love and trust isn’t always enough in this period drama from writer and director Gudny Halldorsdottir. It’s the early Seventies, and law student Selma wants to do more than simply defend people in court; she’s eager to make a difference in the lives of others, and when her boyfriend Bloffi joins the staff of Vedramot, a home for delinquent teenagers with emotional issues, she leaves school to work beside him. Selma, Bloffi and their friends believe that an open environment where the young inmates have the opportunity to discuss their feelings and the circumstances that led them into a life of crime will do more good than traditional disciplinary techniques. However, not all the youngsters at Vedramot respond to this laid-back approach, and Disa, a product of a severely abusive home, openly encourages the other teens to flout the few rules they’re asked to follow. In time, conflicts between the staff and the students escalate into violence, leading to tragedy and bloodshed. Vedramot (aka The Quiet Storm) was inspired in part by Halldorsdottir’s own experiences working at a home for underage offenders in the Seventies.Read More »

The beautiful Sirsa has decided to try and forget her true love, the wild and romantic Ivar, choosing instead to marry Harald, son of the most important family on the island.
Never been released on DVD.Read More »

This is a tragicomic story of lone rebel Boddi Steingrimsson who lives in a small town in Northern Iceland. Boddi hates materialistic modern society in its entirety and on his blog-page he comically criticizes everything and everyone. Before long he has become an outlaw in his own hometown, just like his viking hero, Grettir. After a series of dramatic mishaps, he snaps and goes riding down south to the big city on his sturdy steed Nietzsche. He has got a gun in his pocket and is ready for the revolution.Read More »

From an authentic Viking saga, Outlaw tells the story of a family blood feud, set in 10th century Iceland.

Quote:
After decades of phony Hollywood Vikings, you can finally see the real thing if this film ever makes it to video or DVD. It is made in Iceland, with Icelandic dialog, and captures the authentic speech and flavor of the sagas: the understatement, occasional grim humor, and slow nursing of grudges over the long winters until they flower into blood feuds. The film also shows the strong bonds of loyalty and affection that held families and clans together, and the painfully developed methods of negotiating settlements that prevented the medieval Icelanders from wiping each other out completely. Indispensable for those who love the Icelandic sagas.Read More »

Three tales of three people who have a lasting effect on one another. A young writer whose career is skyrocketing finds himself in a stormy marriage. He divorces his wife after the death of their daughter, shuts himself from the outside world and drinks himself to death over a twenty-year period.Read More »

Quote:
Ikingut is not a cartoon, but a live-action children’s film from Iceland, set a few centuries ago in a superstitious little community among the ice floes that finds a child, Ikingut, who has strayed in from Greenland – the first Eskimo the place has seen.

The baddies believe he’s an evil spirit; the minister’s son begs to differ and the two kids form a playful alliance. There are avalanches, a chase across the frozen plains and a faultless lesson in the friendship of strangers.Read More »

Djoflaeyjan takes place in Reykjavik in the years following World War II. The British and American occupation army has left their bunkers behind. They became homes to hundreds of lower-class people who were pouring into the capital during those years. Djoflaeyjan tells the story of the struggle and often humorous life of people in the bunkers in those difficult times.Read More »

The opening of The Vasulka Effect couldn’t be more apt: Steina Vasulka addresses her husband Woody through various TV screens. He does the same and replies. A perfect image of the relationship between the free-spirited, groundbreaking pioneers of video art. After meeting in Prague in the early 1960s, they relocated from Czechoslovakia to New York, where they later founded The Kitchen, their legendary art and performance gallery.Read More »