Discoveries from Iceland World Cinema

This film explores the option of home birth in Iceland, as seen through the lens of a female filmmaker who is forced to come to terms with her feminine side when she discovers she is pregnant.

It’s now 40 years since the end of the Cod Wars between Britain and Iceland. During the 1950s and 60s, Britain consumed 430,000 tons of cod each year, but as the stocks started to diminish the livelihoods of fishing communities in both countries were at stake. Iceland took steps to protect their fishing industry - the mainstay of their economy - resulting in the three so-called Cod Wars. This was a David and Goliath struggle, where the small fleet of Icelandic gunboats were pitted against the British trawlers and the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic. This Icelandic film, made in 2001, tells the story from both sides and reflects on the impact of the Cod Wars in Grimsby and Hull.

Iceland’s forest cover – past and present, destruction and recovery, exploitation and hope.

A film about boys who bring the struggle for their lives onto the soccer field. Hope springs eternal but here hope is a struggle with oneself and with despair. The boys tell their story from within, the story of how the light pushes the darkness out of the way, without self-pity or evasion. They have exhausted every venue. Therefore the true facts stand naked. Marvelous people. Fascinating characters.

Sigga and María have fun and sing children songs with kids, puppets and a few other guests.

A lonesome boy who has just moved to a small fishing village loses his innocence as a mysterious girl he just met has a tragic accident.

Eva and Halldór’s mother has stopped speaking since falling ill. Eva has been taking care of her with the help of nurse Védís, but when Halldór visits, the household balance is disrupted with unforeseen consequences.

Four contestants are forced to partake in a sketchy game show run by a glue obsessed madman.

Two guys have an argument over one of them picking Sprite over Seven Up with violent consequences.

In the Dominican Republic, cockfighting is the national sport. One of the best-known breeders is Jón Ingi Gíslason, a farmer’s son from Iceland. This is his story, and the story of Gabriel, a shoeshine boy who dreams of owning a cock from the Vikingo farm and becoming a famous gallero like Jón Ingi.

Haunted Trails is a drama documentary about the relationship of Icelanders with history and histories, the relationship of the living with the dead, about the sex life of ghosts and packed lunches. It attempts to capture the quiet joy of making sense of one’s surroundings and heritage, regardless of how bleak, indistinct and mystifying the pretext. What remains, is a vivid image of the Reynistaður brothers’ diet and recurring apprehensions.

A fim about an American of Icelandic descent, Valdimar Björnsson, who was press agent for the US occupation army in Iceland durin WWII and who later became minister of finance Minnesota.

Shot on board a boat from the Westman Islands, this film covers a typical fishing trip. Follows the three-man crew of this small vessel at their work: hauling in the net, gathering up the catch of lobster from the decks, and stowing it away on ice in special barrels.

A drama about some artists living together in an old board school out in the country in Iceland. Some are lucky some are not.

Waiting for a bus that will never come, a young man's life changes when he must confront his darkest fears.

About the evacuation of 3700 residents of the sea town Grindavík Iceland due to volcanic eruptions

Follows the adventure of a group of kids and a paper boy named Peter. Plane ride, box car racing and bad neighbours are all included. Iceland's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990

Devastating powers deep beneath the Earth crust emerge. This documentary takes you there capturing the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull in spring 2010. The volcanic eruption is filmed from air and ground, and these breathtaking shots and especially composed Icelandic music give you the eruption of the decade.

Gunnar owns a car sale where he works everyday, and even lives there along with his two sons, and his ex-girlfriend.

A film about the Icelandic sculptor Einar Jónsson.

A struggling playwright must confront her unresolved past when her former best friend auditions for the lead role in her deeply personal play, forcing them both to face the wounds they left behind.

Diseases caused by environmental pollution include Rumentomia, a blockage of digestive organs in rumenants who have consumed synthetic waste. Shot on a farm in Iceland, Rumentomia describes a surgical operation on a cow who had eaten plastic trash scattered on the farmland.

Fishing on board a modern stern trawler is the subject of this film. It is shot in the North Atlantic from 1979-1982, in all seasons and includes some sequences that are shot in extremely bad weather conditions in the winter of 1981. Different types of trawlers are shown and the landing of the catch in harbours in Iceland and Germany.

Educational film about the freezing industry in Iceland in 1981. This documentary illustrates the diffrent stages in processing of fish, from the moment of catching it to the packaging of the fillets for export. Special attention is drawn to the careful handling of the fish and quality control.

Jean tells, in an ironic way, the story of a French banker and his troublesome marriage with the adorable Jean. We hear his thoughts on love, death and marriage. The film is in English with strong French accent.

A TV movie based on the book by Birgir Sigurðsson

A new Icelandic documentary by Björn B. Björnsson. In 1973, a police investigation was carried out into who had stolen one of the most valuable envelopes in the world from Kiðjaberg in Grímsnes. This envelope, with many rare stamps, is called the Bible Letter, which is owned by the Swedish Count today. The police did not begin to disclose the case at the time, but in the film, a stamp buyer finally reveals the secret behind who was behind the sale of the letter from the country. The secret is a film about an investigation that informs about this old criminal case.

A rare syndrome keeps Anna in a world of isolation. Desperate for human contact, she attempts to break free from the shackles of her uncontrollable body with surprising results.

The Journey Home is a new Icelandic documentary about the people living in the most remote shire in Iceland. We follow the photographer María Gudmundsdóttir, who was born and raised in Árneshreppur, throughout the film and see the livelihood of the people living in this shire. María shot most of the film from 2009 till 2014 and the author Vigdís Grímsdóttir took the majority of the interviews.

Belong to you follows a swimming pool employee who thinks about his relationship with his coworker on a quiet night.

Two international acting students in LA, travel accross country to NY in hope one of them receives a part in a Netflix film

After receiving a hateful snapchat message from other teenagers, the trans girl Blaer needs to face her bullies in school and learn to recognize and live with the fear behind violence. She seeks solace in her diverse group of friends, that also have had their share of prejudism and violence. After an empowering day attending the pride parade, Blær’s courage is challenged in a different way when faced with her bully being attacked by his own gang.

A young man is hungry. In a moment of desperation, he looks for soap as a food solution. However, the effect of the soap does not go unnoticed in the man's life.

Four friends in two pairs have to face all sorts of inconveniences on their way to Selfoss.

Facing the aftermath of deportation, a family tries to reunite while the youngest son and daughter endure the emotional journey to adjust in a place they've never known as home.

When the first Icelandic engineer returned to Iceland from his studies in Denmark a hundred years ago most Icelanders lived in great poverty in dark turf houses as thet had done for centuries. One could hardly speak of any roads, only some trails formed through the centuries by man and animals. There where no bridges over the rivers, only one lighthouse and no man-made harbour to speak of. This documentary shows the evoliution of technology in Iceland and the great changes that the society has undergone since the first engineer arrived with new ideas and knowledge that has turned Iceland into a highly modern society in a very short span of time.

A documentary about downtown Reykjavík through the years.

Though small, the Icelandic pony is widely renowned for its strength and endurance. However, the vast mountainous coastal region of northwest Iceland was still considered too rugged for even the sturdiest of those horses until a dozen riders and forty horses sailed north to face this deserted challenge. if successful they would be the first to travel through this gigantic landscape of cliffs and glaciers.

About a commune of hippies in the village of Hveragerði and their views on a different kind of lifestyle.