Discoveries from Iceland World Cinema

Viktoría, a strong willed woman in her 60s, struggles to hold onto her dairy farm in Iceland, which has been in her family for generations as things gradually fall apart.

17 year-old Pétur has a hard time deciding what to do when he suddenly gets the opportunity to take revenge on the classmate bullying him.

A photographer travels along the south coast of Iceland in an attempt to capture an undying image of the lighthouse in Hrolllaugseyjum. As he battles the forces of nature his journey falls apart while death waits around the corner.

A young trans person travels to the city in search of the freedom to be themselves

“Just Like a Painting by Eggert Pétursson” is a documentary on the painter Eggert Pétursson. In moraines near Skaftafell Glacier and close to the Arctic Circle at Tröllaskagi peninsula we discover the film’s dynamic cornerstone on our trip through the Highlands. Our guide is botanist Thóra Ellen Thórhallsdóttir, who connects the dots between our experience of the Icelandic nature and the floral diversity of Eggert’s flower paintings. Eggert is a conceptual artist with a realistic vision of form and structure, but the imagination is tied to interpretation and his own sense of painting. From his book of sketches, surrounded by a musical ode to Mother Nature, the flora’s perseverance and complexity matches the world of the painting while emphasizing the coexistence of these two worlds.

Two young sisters take on the dangerous task of feeding their mother's sacred ashes to the Fire Serpent before it brings death to their desolate land.

A story of love and betrayal. One summer night, two friends, Ketill and Eyjólfur, are heading to an isolated farm in a taxi, in search for Herdís, former fiancé of Ketill. He has been abroad all winter and wants to know why she left him the day before his departure, last autumn. Reluctant to face her for fear of what he may find out, he is urged on by Eyjólfur. The course of events takes an unexpected direction.

Slavek is an elderly caretaker of a public lavatory and is proud of his job. He becomes anxious to see more and more automatic toilets installed in town. Then something changes. He falls in love with a woman toilet caretaker who is working on the other side of the street.

A group of school kids on a ski trip start hearing startling news from the radio.

Kalli, a young boy living with his mother in the suburbs of Reykjavik, thrives in the world of movies and computer games. When he is sent to spend Christmas with his father's new family up north at an isolated farm, Kalli meets his stepsister, who he does not get along with. Soon he decides to run away, but only to be hit harder by reality and Kalli has to learn how to fight "real life" challenges while encountering imaginary and fictional creatures.

Ólafsson was a poor country boy from Iceland, born in 1895, who at 18 years of age received the call that changed his life. Suddenly he was obsessed with the idea of becoming a missionary in China. In spite of all the obstacles in his way he made it first to Norway, where he got into a missionary school, and then to the land of his dreams, China, through America, Canada and Japan. In China he met his Norwegian wife, who was aslo a missionary, and four of their children were born there. Ólafsson fled with his family to Hong Kong and then to Europe after the city of Shanghai had surrendered to the Japanese in 1937. The documentary is mostly made of old films by Ólafsson himself and some old film stock.

Stella and Salomon run a business together, framkoma.is. Salomon is hired by Anton Skúlason, pilot, to beautify and transform a village, that he owns. Stella stays in the town and starts teaching politicians how to act for the coming elections. By accident Stella gets involved with the Centrum party, the main rival of the Central party, and before she knows it she's head over heals in politics.

A documentary about the soil erosion in Iceland, the creation of the largest man made desert in Europe.

Kristofer travels the postal trail on his route across the interiors. He is accompanied by a newly ordained vicar and a young lady, Maria. The arrogant clergyman sees Kristofer as a rival for the beautiful Maria’s attentions and is determined to demonstrate his superiority.

A group of Icelanders attend a course to search for their inner self.

An attention desperate looser keeps interrupting a very serious pitch meeting.

On a snowy Christmas Eve in Reykjavik, a lonely, aging rocker encounters a mysterious young woman who holds the key to a hidden chapter of his past, forcing him to confront buried truths about family, freedom, and the untold cost of his rock-and-roll dreams.

An aging man has to come to terms with the fact he can't contribute as much to society as he once did.

Two brothers disagree about their mother heritage. The older brother has a lot of children but no money, he is living in his mothers house in a small sea village with his wife and four children. The younger brother has no children but a lot of money. He is living in the city with his unsatisfied wife who desparetly wants a child but cannot. When the older brother wife unexpectly gets pregnant it appears like the perfect solution. The younger brother brings the older one a proposal to adopt the unborn child but instead the older brother can keep the heritage. The older brother and his wife accepts the proposal. When their youngest daughter discovers this she gets very disappointed and makes an effort to destroy the agreement. Soon she finds out that she is not alone in her actions, her newly dead grandmother is still around, ready to help her.

When a young pedantic daughter is at work, her mother transforms into a passionate dancer, using their overfilled flat as a stage. A heartwarming comedy about prejudice, self-respect and dreams fulfilled.

Beta signs up for a standup comedy competition despite having never been on stage before. She asks Húgó, the winner of the same competition 10 years earlier for help with her comedy. This awakens a desire for the past in Húgó, while Beta tries to overcome her insecurities.

A girls' basketball team in Iceland push against societies expectations under the guidance of an unconventional coach, Brynjar Karl Sigurðsson. The team are ready to change the world, but is the world ready for them?

An actor is asked to play the role of a trawler fisherman in a movie. To prepare him for the role, he is sent on board a trawler to learn the basics from the experienced fishermen. The actor is Valdimar Örn Flygenring. The trawler is Breki VE 61 from the Vestmanna Islands. The time is April 1991.

A story in the form of a fairy tale, that tells of the time the Princess calls upon her hero to slay the modern day dragon. The film is unusual in the way it portrays ecological issues in a highly artistic way.

Ever since they were kids practicing in the snow in Iceland, they were told they would never play in a major football tournament. This is a true underdog story of how a nation of only 330.000 defied the odds with attitude and a new head coach. The filmmakers had unlimited access to the Icelandic national team from the beginning of their journey to their ultimate childhood dreams - Euro Cup 2016.

Through a series of mishaps Didda loses her need for glasses, and gains the power of superhuman vision. A power that comes to good use when Didda starts trying to find the men who kidnapped her brother and his friend.

12 hours in the life of a young man who has just received bad news which change everything.

Stand up girls follows an eclectic group of icelandic women, ranging from bellydancers and anarchists to lesbian academics and suburban housewives, who have grown tired of the male dominated stand up scene in Iceland. They decide to form their own troupe and organize a stand up, braving the stage without an iota of experience - and it is a resounding success! Will they manage to follow it through? Are they all cut out for the spot light? Can the troupe survive the pressures of fame? And most importantly, are they really funny? All will be revealed.

A short comedy about a mad small town scientist who makes deadly explosive caramels. While he distributes them through the local candy store, a rough-neck detective closes in.

Bjössi, an eight year old living with his divorced mother reflects on the past when his father was still with them.

Various events of importance to the nation and to individual persons during the cold war and from about 1960 emerge as fragments of the memory of a little boy learning about life, about divorce, military occupation, the Beatles, little girls and death.

A man follows a lonely woman through the night but he gets more than he bargained for.

The staff at the bureau of values may be the greatest bureaucrats in the world, but they have the most colourful dreams, not to mention their nightmare Rosie, is like a breath of fresh air when she comes into the office just before closing-time, raising everybody’s spirits. Live action and animation combined in a comedy.

A group of middle-aged women decide to go out to a cabin in the countryside to relax and forget about the struggles of daily life. But under the nice surface lies a world of long-kept secrets that risks sending the trip into chaos.

Rainbow’s End tells the story of inter-generational family conflict. Is a haunting work that remains as affecting and original today as when it was first released.

The Icelandic króna is traded on markets against the US dollar, euro and yen even though Icelanders are just a few hundred thousand. It has lived to see deflation, depression and debate. But has it's century-long history come to an end? All you ever wanted to know about the world's smallest currency.

For more than 100 years, The Bohemians have enjoyed their love of music. Some of them sing, some don't - but all of them enjoy a good company and good music.

The smell of leather, whiskey and cigars: Two young girlfriends fall in love with the same man, an adventurous young businessman. Missing, forged documents wreak havoc on the lives of everyone involved.

The Magician is a strong and personal story, about how one‘s imagination can help make unbearable situation bearable.

Sváfnir roams the hallways of a large shopping mall, normally occupied by thousands, sweeping and mopping up the mess of others. But at night Sváfnir is alone with himself. Alone with his thoughts and his dreams... or at least, that's what he thought. Confronting the creatures of sleep can proof perilous and Sváfnir needs to step lightly if he doesn't want to "lose a head".

Nanna is a single mother in Reykjavík who lives with her twenty something son Gudni Geir. She is not in awe of any of his various girlfriends and seems determined to ruin all his relationships. When Gudni comes out to her, their relationship changes drastically.

From childhood to adulthood in 10 steps: sex, alcohol, drugs, rock and roll, Middle Class Hell, jolly geezers, true love, fear and loathing. And, remember - don't look back in anger! In fact, don't look at back at all.

On her weekly trips to the swimming pool, Neema, a young immigrant to Iceland, stads out so much that she melts into a puddle. As she strives to stay solid, she realises that she is not the only one struggling with loneliness and grief.

The film shows the most diverse branches of industry and public life, but the longest continuous section is from Reykjavík. Other chapters of the film are from all over the country, such as Mývatn, Siglufjörður during the herring fishing season and of the eruption at Hekla.

Núa burns through her last drops of gasoline to get to a sanctuary at the end of the road where powerhouses, musicians and mystics have gathered for a letting go ritual.

A crazy guy dressed in blue breaks into a school and terrorises the students and staff.

Three children take their grandfather to the graveyard to visit their dead grandmother. When they find out that granddad is tired of living and is actually waiting to die the children get confused, especially the youngest one. Granddad has to find a way to explain to her that death is not the worst thing in the world, which starts a chain of bizarre events. This becomes a learning full experience for the youngest one, even though it leads to a tragic ending.

Bella is a struggling writer who gets a job assisting an elderly lady. She soon discovers that this job is a lot harder than she thought. Will she give up or gain a new perspective on life?

With Steini, a concept conceived in the spirit of Sturm und Drang, a new musical movement has begun. The band Steini, led by the romantic loser Steini and the guitar wielding Golden Boy, has emerged on the scene on a cosmic mission to immunize the listeners from cooties with songs from the depths of doomed love and divine redemption.

A stylized account of an Icelandic country dance. The film features the Icelandic pop group Hljómar (Thor's Hammer).

While collecting material for his thesis, a master’s student interviews two elderly sisters who have been living together in the same old house their entire lives. But as the young man begins to speak with the seemingly normal pair, he soon discovers that there’s much more to their story than meets the eye.

A filmmaker joins a group of expert kayakers on a kayaking trip in the ice filled fiords of East Greenland. The group visit a remote inuit village, giving an insight into the habits of people in a magnificent country where, fonunately, the pace and stress of the Western world is still absent.

A pessimistic foreigner, living in Iceland, believes people have no power over their lives. Someone tries to convince him otherwise.