Discoveries from Iceland World Cinema

A short documentary showing the formation of an island from lava and other volcanic activity.

A nine year old boy joins social media and spends a year making videos.

'Judge Me, I Walk on Glass' deals with addiction through the life story of the director‘s son who has over the past 20 years struggled with the disease. The film follows his struggle while describing the author's experience as the mother of a child who developed an addiction from the age of 15.

A Boy and a Girl and a Bush and a Bird features Kjartansson and his longtime collaborator, Davíð Þór Jónsson, playing a small opus they composed in a rundown, but still functioning tropically, banana plantation on a freezing winter day in Iceland.

The movie follows a moonshine dealer in debt to criminals as he try's to gather all the money he owes before sunset. The movie is set in Reykjavík, Iceland.

An old, dying man and his daughter make one final attempt to save him from imminent death.

When the Cameraman finds a ring in an abandoned house he starts seeing weird things.

The film follows Hilmar Páll Jóhannesson, father of the director, in his years-long battle with Reykjavík over land in Gufunes. Urban planning changes shattered his dreams, and the dispute has consumed his life, reshaping him through grief, anger, and isolation, and leaving him in constant conflict—externally and internally.

Yousuf, a deeply religious immigrant in Iceland, forms a quiet, intimate bond with his co-worker Lucas. When friendship turns to love, Yousuf must confront the collision of his faith, culture, fear and the sexuality he can no longer deny.

Petra’s first date with Jirí takes a surreal turn when his pregnant ex crashes the evening. Caught in their volatile orbit, Petra is left questioning what just happened and her own role in it.

Ruth Hanson was of Danish descent, trained in dance and gymnastics in Denmark but then returned home. In 1927, Ruth hired Loft Guðmundsson, a photographer and filmmaker, to film a short instructional film on Flat-Charleston dancing. Ruth Hanson was 21 at the time, and her dance partner in the film was her 14-year-old sister, Rigmor.

Hilda, a small, 15-year-old girl, wants to continue the strongman legacy of her father after his unfortunate passing.

A figure wanders the still corridors of a museum, beneath the faded gaze of ancient statues. A young Roman is entombed in the ritual of remembering. Through fragments of Latin, Ancient Greek, and breathless silence, his voice summons the lost — seen through the eyes of the wanderer, unfolding as a liturgy of absence, an elegy whispered across centuries. In the stillness between languages, a self vanishes and another begins.

Iceland looks towards Norway with horror: Salmon rivers are dying, fishermen fear the hook on the door and local communities are in danger. Now, one chance is pointed out to save the fishing.

In an endeavour to reconnect with nature, a field recordist inadvertently documents the audible effects of climate change.

A self-absorbed man, drowning in self-pity, seeks spiritual guidance at his own birthday party.

When the family dog dies, a father and son bury the dog’s gift and must face grief, love, and their bond.

It was always Arnór Daði’s dream to become a comedian. But that dream was hard to justify. So, Arnór told everyone in his hometown that he was moving to Reykjavík to become a filmmaker, but in reality, he moved to become a comedian.

Flóki Larsen, a bookseller and librarian in Reykjavík, studied Icelandic at the University of Iceland and is now pursuing a master’s degree in cultural mediation. Bókin is his first short film.

Mankind's journey to the Moon and the experience of viewing our home planet from a quarter of a million miles away. During the 1960s, the Apollo astronauts were sent to Iceland to train for their missions to the Moon. The film follows them back into the highlands of Iceland, where they reflect on their epic missions to another world.

A documentary about the life and career of Örlygur Aron Sturluson, one of Iceland's most talented basketball players, who tragically passed away at a young age. From his early days on the courts of Njarðvík to his rise as a national sensation, this documentary chronicles the journey of a young athlete whose passion and skill left an indelible mark on Icelandic basketball.

Resilience was filmed at Iceland’s largest hydroelectric dam, Kárahnjúkar. Its construction involved flooding Europe’s second largest wilderness area, destroying a unique ecosystem in order to provide cheap energy for foreign aluminum companies. The work experiments with the viewers’ sudden changes in heart rate and their ability to cope with change and sustain shocks while maintaining their integrity in the face of external forces.

Vagus Symphony is an experimental poetic short film, an abstract journey without words from the primordial bang to epiphany through the seven continents of the body.

This film urges reflection on indigenous prophecies about The Great Shift—choosing between technology and reconnecting with the earth. Siou emphasises the lyrics' challenge to address our destructive impact. Filmed in Iceland, Circle of Signs tackles climate grief and colonialism. Collaborating with 15-year-old Seraphia Behr, Shay explores California wildfires and youth voices, symbolising the struggle to reclaim nature and identity.

Enter a magical world of women dreams, food, art, music and humor on a summer roadtrip around Iceland, getting to know strong ladies who run fascinating local cafés and a talented singer and playwriter. The enchanted storytelling catches you into a journey you wish will never end.

"Home videos from my childhood and teens, archive and found footage sampled with with new material make up this personal documentary that reflects on how women experience themselves as objectified beings affected by media and social constraints. The work is a response to old material, some of which I did not have control over, yet it has still defined me." A poetic narrative, full of contradictions, about a girl who has an awakening to these effects that lead her to contemplate control over her own identity, ideology and political awareness.

When two troll siblings wake up all alone in their cave, they need to embark on an adventure to find out were the 100 troll family has gone to. New things come to light about their family and feared mother Grýla.

A black man faces prejudice on the bus, but his day takes a positive turn when an elementary school girl starts talking to him.

Video glitch as a formal means of erasing glacier from mountain, projecting image of impending future. Many human beings fail to see the implications of industrialized society on Earth systems, to our collective-multispecies peril.

A sequel to “Gary Grayman” (2022) - After a failed mission, Gary, Jenný and Aron are on the run from the ridiculously overpowerful Rasmus Rasmussen.

The 1955 strike in Reykjavík was one of the hardest-hitting strikes in Iceland’s history. The Reykjavík of the time was a growing cultural city that was experiencing an increase in luxury goods but also full-fledged poverty. The trade unions were pressing for improved social rights in a political environment often ruled by the Cold War. The stage was set for an unprecedented siege.

It takes courage to move to a new and unfamiliar part of the world. The film portrays 15 years in the life of a family of five, coming from Thailand in search of work and a better life. The oldest daugther, Navinda, was left in Thailand.

In 2012, a handful of farmers start a movement to prevent the laying of high voltage overhead power line over vast lands of unique natural beauty. As the campaign gains widespread backing with time, it stands to mark a turning-point for nature conservation. An inside story.

My grandmother, Stella was born in the early 20th century. She has lived to see amazing changes around her, from steam engines to satellites, from dirt roads to asphalt and she has lived to see so many descendants that she has stopped counting. Granny tells her story and the story of a whole generation, a generation that is now disappearing.

Birgir Andresson is an artist that does not explain his work; instead he tells stories related to it. His collected work describes a deep thinker that never did preen on his work.

Lighthouse keepers are a dying breed all over the world, as automated equipment has been making their job obsolete. The story of Óskar- Iceland´s last lighthouse keeper, is the unique story of a recluse who has spent all his life in Storhofdi - lighthouse, the windiest weather station in Iceland, besides setting a world record in bird tagging.

How do the houses we live in and their architecture affect our lives and lifestyles? The film explores the relationship between apartments and their inhabitants through the everyday life of people in four different flats in a housing project in Reykjavík.

In the late fifties Iceland was isolated and backwards. Industrialisation had really just begun and the country was taking it’s first steps towards the ultra-modern society we know today. The US military set up a base next to the sleepy fishing village of Keflavik on the south coast turning everything on it’s head. The Americans outnumbered the locals three to one. Culturally it was as if a UFO had landed. The young people were more open to cultural influences than the older generation and this triggered a rock and roll explosion which then swept the rest of the country. It was the birth of Icelandic teenage culture. Because of Iceland’s location right between America and Europe the cultural influences mixed to produce an unique blend.

Guðbergur Bergsson is an Icelandic writer born in Grindavík on 16 October 1932. He went to the University of Iceland for his Teaching degree and then went for further study in literature at the University of Barcelona. He is one of the leading translators of Spanish works in Iceland. His first book came out in 1961. He has had twenty books in all including poetry and children's literature. He has won the Icelandic Literary Prize twice. In 2004, he won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, known as the 'little Nobel'. In the film we see Bergssons super-8 films from Francos Spain and Lisboa during the revolution in 1974. Even his life as a writer and critic of the icelandic society.

Thorsteinn J. interviews his mother who is dying from lung cancer. He connects what he hears with fragments from his own life, including his journeys to the North Pole, Las Vegas and Bucharest. It's the same journey — called life.

Close to the Artic Circle, Iceland offers exotic landscape and eccentric people. We offer a highly entertaining sports-program focusing on fun, human interest and extreme situation. The programs are youth oriented with fast edits and loads of music. We will fallow athletes from different types of actionsports as the perform exciting acts with amazing landscapes from Iceland as backdrops. It looks scary to us but for them it's just fun! Why do they do it and what kind of a kick do the get out of it? We cover snowboarding on several locations in Iceland, mostly on glaciers which are very extreme locations. River rafting or kayaking down powerful rivers originating from melting glaciers is another adventure. Among other adventures will be downhill mountain biking, ice climbing, cave-diving, surfing and similar extreme sports. We find those people fascinating and the camera loves them for what they do!

What happens to an ordinary Icelandic family when the father of a new-born baby gets the opportunity to stay at home with the baby for three months? Will the relationship between father and wife better, and will the distribution of household chores be any different? And what has the employer and the colleagues at work to say about this arrangement? Those questions are among other that are asked in the documentary Fathers in paternity leave. We fallow one of the fathers through his paternity leave, talk to some others and interview, among others, a sociologist and a psychologist who are experts on the matter.

In August 1997, British rock band Blur launched what is probably the most astonishing and exotic rock'n'roll tour of all times, called Next Stop North Pole. They where to play for Nordic nations not at all used to concerts by the most popular band of that time. See Iceland, The Faroe Islands and Greenland through the eyes of Blur.

A story of a transvestite in Los Angeles.

A breathtakingly beautiful valley between three glaciers, one of them Eyjafjallajökull. It may well have been the inspiration to Tolkien as he visited. Iceland before he started drawing the outlines of the famous Ring Trilogy. Thorsmork can only be reached with difficulty, hidden away between glaciers and trecherous rivers, but is still one of the most popular places in the country to visit. The film about Thorsmörk shows it’s beauty and lure. From bird’s eye view you will experience an overall impression of a magical landscape; where the deep green of lush plants meets the blackness of the wide sands lined with silvery bands of untamed rivers flowing through it. And right above rise magnificent glacier covered mountains. Thorsmörk’s flora, fauna and geography is explained by a narrator, guiding the viewer through the magical landscape of one of nature’s unforgetteble beauty spots.