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 »
Icelandic
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Baldvin Zophoníasson – Vonarstræti AKA Life in a fishbowl (2014)
2011-2020Baldvin ZophoníassonDramaIceland -
Gísli Snær Erlingsson – Ikingut (2000)
1991-2000AdventureGísli Snær ErlingssonIcelandQuote:
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 »
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Friðrik Þór Friðriksson – Djöflaeyjan AKA Devil’s Island (1996)
1991-2000ComedyDramaFriðrik Þór FriðrikssonIcelandDjoflaeyjan 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 »
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Guðný Halldórsdóttir – Kristnihald undir Jökli AKA Under the Glacier (1989)
1981-1990ArthouseDramaGuðný HalldórsdóttirIceland
This is the story of a spiritual and physical odyssey, comic and strange, made by a young theological student. Our hero is Umbi (an acronym for emissary of the bishop), sent by him to undertake an important investigation at Snæfell glacier. In particular he is to look into the conduct and behavior of Jón Prímus, the old pastor at Snæfell. Fantastic rumours are rife: amongst other things it is said that a corpse is lodged in the glacier! Armed with his tape recorder and notebook, Umbi embarks upon his mission. He tries to question the weird locals, a weird lot, but gets evasive answers. Slowly he is dragged into a quagmire of strange happenings and his efforts to understand only make him confused. If at the beginning he is a chiper, a mere device, by the end of the story he is inextricably involved, a committed participant in the bizarre events.Read More »
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Olaf de Fleur Johannesson – Borgríki AKA City State [+extra] (2011)
2011-2020ActionCrimeIcelandOlaf de Fleur JohannessonSet in modern day Iceland, an immigrant vows revenge after losing his unborn child in an attack by a crime syndicate, thereby binding his fate with a troubled policewoman, her corrupt police commander, and a crime lord who’s losing his edge.Read More »
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Hlynur Palmason – Hvítur, hvítur dagur AKA A White, White Day (2019)
Drama2011-2020Hlynur PalmasonIceland
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An off duty police begins to suspect a local man for having had an affair with his recently dead wife. Gradually his obsession for finding out the truth accumulates and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones.Read More » -
Ragnar Bragason – Foreldrar AKA Parents (2007)
2001-2010ArthouseIcelandRagnar Bragason
Foreldrar was the big winner at the Eddas ceremony (the yearly Icelandic film prize) winning a total of six Eddas.
In modern day Reykjavik, dark secrets come to light when an unhappy dentist, a lovelorn businessman and a young mother fleeing her troubled past meet by chance.
Inspired by the largely improvisational, collaborative methods of Jean-Luc Godard, John Cassavetes and Mike Leigh. In conjunction with actors from the Icelandic theatrical troupe Vesturport, who based their characters on real people, director Ragnar Bragason has produced an unsentimental dramatic study of parenthood in all its potential for fulfillment, suffering and self-discovery.Read More »
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Kristín Jóhannesdóttir – Glerbrot AKA Broken Glass (1988)
1981-1990ExploitationHorrorIcelandKristín Jóhannesdóttir
Here we have a true rarity, an Icelandic WIP exploitation horror love story. Teenage girl (played by the singer Björk at the time when she was on the brink of becoming a world famous musician) is taken against her will from her dysfunctional home by the authorities and moved to an isolated and strict religious institution in the countryside where she and other girls at her age are kept imprisoned and harassed sexually. The film is loosely inspired by a true case involving the Salvation Army that became very controversial in the country two decades earlier. The film score is by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, the current Chieftain of the Asa Faith Society in Iceland.Read More »
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Óskar Jónasson – Sódóma Reykjavík AKA Remote Control (1992)
1991-2000ComedyCrimeIcelandÓskar Jónasson
Since his mother wants to watch TV, Axel, a young auto-mechanic, must recover her remote control, accidentally taken by his punk sister Maja. During his quest, he becomes involved in the conflict between Moli, the liquor smuggler, and Aggi, a night club owner who wants to be Iceland’s first mafia boss.Read More »




