Icelandic Retrospective

A recurring theme in many Icelandic films is the nostalgic look at the outsider and his or hers struggle to fit in, their role in society and the need to be accepted by the surroundings. Icelandic films and their slow paced, deadpanned take on the islanders black humour and their superstition captures the essence of being Icelandic.

Icelandic films have gained recognition in recent years and Icelandic shorts have done amazingly well at festivals around the world and have been a stepping-stone for its filmmakers on to bigger things. Such films as Rúnar Rúnarsson “The Last Farm” and Ísold Uggadóttir first short “Family reunion”. Rúnarsson’s Volcano was well received and Ísold Uggadóttir is filming her first feature this winter.

Icelandic documentaries have earned great respect in the last years, especially with last year’s Nordisk Panorama winner Salóme by Yrsa Roca Fannberg. Icelandic Documentaries comes in all sizes and shapes, and many of them with a minimal crew and budget. They are co-produced, filmed and edited by the director. Fantastic big-budget feature docs have also merged from Icelanders such as Þorfinnur Guðnason’s Dreamland and Friðrik Þór Friðriksson’s The Sunshine Boy.

/ Janus Bragi Jacobsson

In collaboration with: Icelandic Film Centre, Íslandsstofa & Promote Iceland, Icelandic Cinema Online