Discoveries from Iceland World Cinema

The harrowing true story of Bjorn Petursson, who murdered farmhands and travlers in 16th-century Iceland.

A run down boxer meets his faith outside a supermarket.

The film touches on a variety of subjects including finance, corruption, cronyism, nepotism, the privatisation of the Icelandic banking system, tax havens, connections between politics and business, the Kitchenware Revolution, the Citizens' movement, and how the Icelandic government reacted to warning signs leading up to the collapse of the banking system in 2008. People who are interviewed include Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, William K. Black, Robert Wade, employees at Transparency International, Eva Joly and Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson. In their search for answers the filmmakers travel extensively and among the locations they visit are London, Guernsey, Luxembourg and Road Town in The British Virgin Islands.

On a perfect summer night in a perfect summer house, Björk introduces her new boyfriend to her sister.

Guided by the Jules Verne novel “Voyage au centre de la Terre”, four friends set out to explore Snaefellsjökul Volcano in Iceland. However, as they journeyed through the country recording sounds, they found themselves having a series of profound and transformative experiences that exceeded their original expectations. The result of their trip is an immersive audio-visual narrative titled “Journey to the Center of the Sound,” which not only guides the audience through diverse Icelandic landscapes, but also invites them to embark on their own sensory journey.

Jake wakes up to a terrible dream as he finds himself locked away in a small concrete cell. He must fight to survive the claustrophobic isolation as he tries to hold onto sanity. How will Jake escape his imprisonment? Will he? Only time will tell.

Raquela is a transsexual, or lady boy, from the Philippines, who dreams of escaping the streets of Cebu City for a fairy tale life in Paris. In order to make her dreams come true, she turns from prostitution toward the more lucrative business of Internet porn. Her success as a porn star brings new friends, including Valerie, a lady boy in Iceland, and Michael, the owner of the website Raquela works for. Valerie helps Raquela get as far as Iceland. From there, Michael offers her a rendezvous in Paris. Will Paris be everything she dreamed of? And will Michael turn out to be her Prince Charming?

No plot found anywhere online.

short documentary film on an Icelandic whaling station

Henry Darger travels the icy roads of Iceland to find out how much time he has left to live. Two o’clock will tell him a clairvoyant with blue skin.

This documentary tells the story of the Icelandic Red-stocking movement in the seventies.

A corporate documentary on the construction of the Krafla power station, which describes thoroughly all the stages of the project until the inauguration. The documentary contains animated maps and charts for further explanation on the function of the power plant.

A man isolates himself from his environment and finally disappears into a white wall in his home.

The film tells the story of Maja and Nikulás meeting and how they develop a friendship when she starts to visit him regularly. This worries Bergur, Nikulás' son, especially after he learns that his father intends to leave the girl an inheritance, a Chinese vase. Bergur takes action, and the short-lived adventure ends in a more tragic way than is usually the case in fairy tales.

A sad office worker's life takes a sudden turn when he finds a briefcase and gets involved with a top-secret spy mission in which a mysterious killer hunts him down.

He is accused of a good deal; collecting all kinds of rubbish around the refectory farm, allowing the place to deteriorate and general incompetence as a farmer. In addition, he is said not being able to control his temper, to have isolated himself from his flock and because of his oddness and idiosyncrasies his sanity has also been questioned. Is Reverend Jón an incompetent priest? If so, why isn’t he allowed to stay at his farm? Is it because he underfeeds his sheep? Or is it because members of the congregation want to get their hands on his eider down farm for themselves? Or is it simply his appearance, contradicting the accepted notions of what a pastor should be, that has triggered the hostilities towards him.

A Thai mail-order bride comes to Iceland in search for a better life. When her new partner locks her in the house and takes her clothes from her she realises something is terribly wrong. Locked in the flat she finds things belonging to an earlier Thai bride and with her help, she manages to turn the tables on her captor.

The aged farmer Gunnar and his visiting granddaughter Anna struggle with communication as their dog faces a terminal illness. Over a summer weekend, secrets unfold and the family must duel mortality.

"Where's The Snow?!" is the electrifying and compellingly-unique story of the most insane music festival you've never heard of - welcome to Iceland Airwaves

On April 14th 2010 the earth opened up for the second time in less than a month at Eyjafjallajökull in Southern Iceland. The disruption captured the world's attention. When the airlines resumed their normal routes and headlines started to fade, the farmers under the volcano were fighting for their livestock and livelihood as they still are today. The film ‘ASH' follows three farming families living under the volcano to see the effect of the ash on their lives and livelihood. It is a character-driven creative documentary about the aftermath under the volcano.

Among the species illustrated are Fulmar, Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, Kittiwake, Common Guillemot (or Murre), Brunnich's Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin. Several other bird species, as well as marine mammals, are also featured.

A story about a common man that arose to the level of a national treasure through his storytelling and other incredible endeavors. A man that did not compromise any of his dreams, hopes and visions in a rapidly changing world, but kept true to his ways and the philosophy that he received directly from past ages.

Steingerður has worked in the town office for years. Her new young boss wants to push past the rules and approve a building permit on land that has a known elf rock on it. Steingerður denies the application but comes to find out it might already be too late to save the rock.

Bjössi, a farmer, lives in the middle of nowhere with his flock of black sheep, which are his closest friends and family. One day he receives the news that he has to cull his flock because of illness. When the day of reckoning comes, it turns out to be the hardest day he has ever encountered.

The story of Iceland’s oldest boys band, Studmenn, is truly remarkable and is told here from childhood till ripe old age.

This documentary tells the story of the aviation entrepreneur Alfred Eliasson, founder and manager of Loftleidir Icelandic, who is recognized as one of the pioneers in Trans-Atlantic passenger aviation.

Thorbjörn Steingrimsson is an unusual shepherd. He does not have sheep or goats but ramshackle cars from which he extracts working components for his spare parts business.

In an idyllic South Icelandic village, an aimless delivery driver’s life is upended when her half-brother disappears following his wife’s suspicious demise.

Inspired by a Poem by: Jacques Prévert.

A two-part documentary about Daði & Gagnamagnið, introducing viewers to the band’s story since first taking part in the Icelandic national competition for Eurovision in 2017.

Winter turns to summer that turns to winter and, maybe, to summer again, for a group of elderly people living together in a grand old building in Reykjavík - an institution, but also a home. Some have lived a lifetime that spans almost a century.

Ragnar Bjarnasson career spans 60 years. Now at 75 he is ready to examine his career and allow us access to the idol Ragnar Bjarnason who is much loved by all ages. The camera follows him during a grand performance in honor of his seventy fifth birthday and gives us a glimpse of the pendulous chances of his life and career as a singer and performer.

Inspired by a poem by Lars Norén, By Herself is an oneiric film about a woman who lives alone and who comes home late one evening. Beautifully filmed, By Herself is a film that dwells on the mysteries of time, loneliness, and desire.

A man's shoe gets stuck under a car in a parking lot.

Guðrún is a ten year old girl. One day at school she is called in to the principal´s office. The principal informs her that her S.U.V. burnet to the ground earlier that same morning. While Guðrún spends recess trying to figure out what the principal had meant, an investigation on the alleged arson is taking place and Guðrún is the main suspect.

At 85, Icelandic design icon Gunnar Magnússon begins a final project with help from his daughter Tinna. As his health suddenly fails, she is left to complete the work herself, turning her father’s last creation into a daughter’s final gesture of love.

A fairy tale based on the stories about the troll Gilitrutt

A film about the Westman Islands eruption in 1973, the destruction and the restoration work which began a year later.

In the quiet coastal village of Eyrarbakki, three sisters live seemingly ordinary lives. But beneath the surface lies a dark secret, one that has been silently stirring for longer than any living soul could ever fathom.

Swimming Pool Stories is a visual presentation of the swimming pools around Iceland, the culture associated with them and the guests who use the outdoor pools daily, no matter the season or the weather condition. The social aspect of swimming pools in Iceland is one of their defining features.

According to a legend, Plovers are the couriers of spring and without them summer won’t come to the northern hemisphere. When the world is threatened with an endless winter a young idealistic plover gathers a company of feathered misfits to foil the plans of the evil Ice Queen. Ploveria abandons her boyfriend and their comfortable life in the south to head north in the fellowship with her new friends to take on the Ice Queen and her fearsome army of ravens, with the aim of securing the arrival of spring and to fulfil an ancient legend.

A young man who's bullied at school gets into an accident and has a concussion. After the incident he starts having these strange dreams.

A young boy wakes up to almost a dreamlike reality. He cannot find his parents. Then suddenly everything seems very wrong.

Two people are magnetically drawn together by a beating heart.

Broken by a tragic loss, a young man turns to a fight club to battle his inner devil through physical violence, but he risks losing himself in the process.