Discoveries from Iceland World Cinema

Áramótaskaup: 2014 is an annual Icelandic TV movie satirizing the events of the past year.

A group of friends meet for a dinner, and for fun start a party game where everyone must share everything that comes into their phones. Before long, the secrets spill out and threaten to spoil the most important thing of all, the 'hygge'.

Part of the film "8", Gael García Bernal delivers a film on universal education.

The daring journey through Europe of two somewhat naive friends, Salvatore and Felice, fleeing a small town in Puglia, who find themselves catapulted to Rotterdam and then to Iceland. For the first time in their lives they will discover what it means to feel alive and happy. Through some mishap and with the help of the generous and extravagant Anke, they will overcome their fears and inhibitions. They will be overwhelmed by life, discovering the joy of existing and of experiencing and receiving affection and love in a strange triangle of relationships typical of a 'modern family', bizarre and reassuring at the same time.

After the death of his father, a private investigator in Iceland leads his own search to discover what really happened.

The film follows a day in the life of a troubled elderly gentleman facing fear of death and visions of his late father who he gets mixed up with his favorite figure of fiction, Captain Ahab from Moby Dick. He has visions of rubber shoes in the sewer where he works leading him to think back on his childhood and the origins of his bizarre work of art for which he has sacrificed even his marriage. His masterpiece is a bizarre fence along a black beach which he tends to with tenderness but dreads to complete.

A young farmgirl, Belle, with a history of being trapped in toxic relationships, becomes trapped by the Beast who promises to cure her sick father with a rose if she stays with him.

About Icelandic composer Jon Leifs (1899-1968) who spent much of his life in Germany before WWII. The film begins in the 1930s after he has married the daughter of an industrialist, Annie, who is also a concert pianist. This era was frustrating for Leifs because his works were seldom performed. Iceland's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1995

An Oscar nominated Icelandic short film about an old man who might leave his farm but keeps a secret.

It is a world without language. A world where one is raised to respect the rules. Only one Boy questions the verity of what he has been taught, and he must decide whether to continue living in a society of fear or choose his own destiny.

When Ana's childhood friend dies she attempts to skip the five stages of grief with the help of her best friends, ex-boyfriends and naked Twister.

When a new neighbour arrives at Rannveig´s doorstep, her frustrated everyday life suddenly changes. The cloud of hopelessness that surrounds her marriage and her relationship with her almost adult daughter lifts temporarily but soon the family is forced to confront new and unknown challenges in their relationship.

Gunnar and Sonja are a married couple that had it all, money,love and a beautful daughter. But after the death of there daughter their world falls apart. To make things worse Gunnar is in the middle of a trial, being charged with illegal sales and purchase on behave of his company. When Gunnar and Sonja inherit Gunnar's niece Perla, the couple take on a weekend journey to pick up Perla, who is staying at a remote house in the Icelandic country side where she lost both of her parents in a horrible way. When Gunnar and Sonja arrive at the house strange things start to happen.

A young woman inherits her grandmothers home, despite never having met her and never been to her house. Her mother tells her to make a journey to her grandmothers home as a way to deal with grief, but she gets more than she bargained for.

Since his mother wants to watch TV, Axel, a young auto-mechanic, must recover her remote control, accidentally taken by his punk sister Maja. During his quest, he becomes involved in the conflict between Moli, the liquor smuggler, and Aggi, a night club owner who wants to be Iceland's first mafia boss.

Innocence tells the story of children who resisted to be enlisted but capitulated. Their stories were never told as they died during their service. Through a narration based on their haunting diaries, the film depicts their inner turmoil. It interweaves first-hand military images, key moments from childhood until enlistment and home videos of the deceased soldiers whose stories are silenced and seen as a national threat.

Áramótaskaup: 2025 is an annual Icelandic TV movie satirizing the events of the past year.

Girl meets boy on a cold winter night. She's a single mom, and he becomes less charming than she thought he was after she invites him home. As things are getting out of hand, her young daughter wakes up, and roles become reversed as they deal together with the aftermath.

In the early summer of 1980, eleven-year-old Hanna and the rest of her childhood band aim to bring criminals to justice when a threat to destroy the last dance of school comes their way. Their ensuing adventure pits good vs. evil and disco vs. punk, and ends with love and unity conquering all.

A fragile soul's inner turmoil unfolds as he battles personal demons in pursuit of a seemingly mundane goal.

Karen, a 9 year old Icelander has always wanted to meet her London based actor father. Having fantasied about him for years, she realizes when they meet that he's perhaps not the father that she had wished for. This uncomfortable experience gives Karen both the strength and confidence to tackle the local bullies.

Águst Guðmundsson directed this Icelandic period drama, adapted from the short story We Must Dance by William Heinesen, and set on an island in 1913. Pétur (Gunnar Helgason) narrates, recalling the days when mainlanders arrived for a wedding. Flirtatious Sirsa (Pálína Jónsdottir) marries Harald (Dofri Hermannsson), son of a wealthy landowner on the island. Offshore, a ship is sinking, so the men form a rescue party, returning with the captain, the engineer, and several sailors. With a storm gathering, the engineer dies. The clergyman requests an end to the festivities as a mark of respect. Sirsa protests, but her new husband brings the celebration to a halt. The group then fragments into different activities, drunken or otherwise, and the sensual Sirsa directs her attention toward the handsome Ívar (Baldur Trausti Hreinsson). The film's score features traditional folk music.

Throughout the span of this completely stop-motion short film, a mysterious figure transforms just a measly packs of sweets into a large meal.

A country boy has to quit school in Reykjavík and move back home.

A group of icelandic actors and comedians satirize the events of 2001.

Pétur is an optometrist happily married to Ásta. They are expecting a child but already have a 10 year old boy named Örn. On coincidense Pétur finds out that he is not Örn's biological father.

After taking over the local radio station in a small town a young man soon discovers that he is living in an other mans existence which stretches beyond life and death.

Middle aged bourgeoisie couple lives a loveless life along with their beautiful eighteen year old daughter. The man has a passionate desire for the girl who in fact is not his real daughter but the fruit of an affair of the woman early in the marriage. This leads to tragic events.

Indiana lives in a council estate and makes her living preying on the welfare system. In her small private garden she tends to her award winning tree. When her only son turns up with a foreign girlfriend - Indiana's world is upended.

Unique artist couple, Helena and Thorvaldur truly nourished each other’s creative spirit. Helena’s journey since Thorvaldur’s passing seven years ago has been one of finding a new meaning to life and new motives to continue her artistic ambitions whilst securing a path for her late husband’s legacy.

The Icelandic Shock-Station is a thoroughbred Icelandic comedy, where the Icelander's daily life and habits are elevated to the level of farcical confusion and where all the laws of common sense are reversed in travesty of themselves, while at the same time the opportunity is taken to satirize some of the features the scriptwriter feels are blemish on the otherwise smooth facade of the nation's character.

Every year, on a large island just outside of Iceland, there is a huge football tournament for kids. Ten-year-old Jón and his team go to compete, but he will have to grow up faster than expected, both on and off the pitch.

December is a present-day tale set in Reykjavik during the holiday season. Jonni (Tomas Lemarquis) returns to Iceland to spend Christmas with his family and to record an album with his old (one-hit-wonder) band. He soon finds out that circumstances in his family have changed dramatically and his friends have moved on. We follow Jonni as he deals with this blunt new reality. Tomas Lemarquis, the star of Noi the Albino, plays Jonni, a musician who after a long time living abroad returns to home Iceland to spend Christmas with his family and record an album with his old (one-hit-wonder) band. He soon finds out that family circumstances have changed dramatically and that his friends have moved on. Dealing with this blunt new reality, Jonni also has to wrestle with the reigniting of an old flame, as he helps his family make Christmas merry in spite of everything.

This will follow the life of a family which, at the turn of the 19th century, transforms its house into a raft and goes looking for a new place to live.

Kristin and Steve are living a quiet life in Iceland until an emergency call and a mysterious murder lead them on the trail of diamonds hidden during World War II. Intrigued by the mystery of the Wolf's Tears diamonds, they are joined by their fearless friend, sheep farmer Einar.. In pursuit of the treasure, the trio ends up in Finland via Germany, followed by hired killer Thomas, whose true motives are shrouded in mystery. In the archipelago of Turku, they come face to face with the ruthless industrialist Maxine, who is prepared to do anything to get her hands on the diamonds.

Ragnar has left his family farm and works as a taxi driver in Reykjavík in the early sixties. He's drawn to the beautiful but unhappy girl Gogo and hopes to build a better life with her. But she's a lost soul and their brief romance results in tragedy.

In the middle ages a small Greenlandic boy comes drifting with an Iceberg to a remote and superstitious settlement in Iceland and is believed to be an evil spirit by his looks. He saves a young boy from an avalanche and they become friends. The young Icelandic boy has to fight for his friends existence against the ignorant villagers, who want him imprisoned or even killed

A young woman takes her first pregnancy test.

With big plans for the future, city boy Tommi chases his girlfriend to the Wild West-fjords. This summer is not going to be like he expected.

Gríma is the newly crowned Miss Iceland with her life seemingly firmly on track. But after a sudden misstep, Gríma is forced to take a hard look at herself and decide what kind of person she really is.

After a failed attempt at a hostel luggage room hook up, Sam and Naomi think they will never see each other again. When a volcano erupts, grounding all flights, they suddenly find themselves stranded – together. In a stolen car, the pair embark on a quest to capture the first images of the eruption. The ensuing road trip into the Icelandic highlands uncovers their vulnerabilities as they navigate their fears of commitment, the weight of their secrets and the thrills of connection in a world where they can no longer swipe left.

TV movie based on the first chapters of the Icelandic Brennu-Njáls saga. The first part of Njálssaga is a half-hour long drama based on a part of Brenna-Nálssaga. It tells the story of Hallgerður Langbrók having food stolen in Kirkjubær and the horse she received as a reward from Gunnar. This is followed by Gunnar's quarrel with Otkel in Kirkjubær and his advisor Skammkel. Their business ends with Gunnar killing both of them. The second part is a half-hour long documentary where scholars bring out something interesting about this part of the story.

Our hero is Umbi (an acronym for emissary of the bishop), sent by him to undertake an important investigation at Snæfell-glacier. In particular he is to look into the conduct and behavior of Jón Prímus, the old pastor at Snæfell. Fantastic rumors are rife: amongst other things it is said that a corpse is lodged in the glacier! Armed with his tape recorder and notebook, Umbi embarks upon his mission. He tries to question the weird locals, a weird lot, but gets evasive answers. Slowly he is dragged into a quagmire of strange happenings and his efforts to understand only make him confused. If at the beginning he is a chipper, a mere device, by the end of the story he is inextricably involved, a committed participant in the bizarre events.

A men's choir decides to go to Sweden and Germany. Shortly before their departure the choir director, Max, dies and is mourned by the choir and especially by their accompanist Magga, whom he was in love with. In deference to Max's memory, they embark upon a mission of song and companionship, in order to adjust to their loss.

A young boy searches for a forest on a post-apocalyptic desert planet.

The film deals with four men who rob a bank to pay tens of millions of debts one of them to Iceland's most dangerous man, Gulla's car dealership. To help Arnari out of the pinch, his three friends decide to help him rob robbery, gripped and armed. What could possibly go wrong?

Emily is a young boy that dreams about owning a dog and he starts working so he can save up to buy one. Meanwhile his family are dealing with money problems.

An incident at a isolated farm leads to a young man needing to grow up quicker than he anticipated.

Halldór Kiljan Laxness was born in 1902 in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, but spent his youth in the country. From the age of seventeen on, he traveled and lived abroad, chiefly on the European continent. He was influenced by expressionism and other modern currents in Germany and France. In the mid-twenties he converted to Catholicism, but Laxness's religious period did not last long; during a visit to America he became attracted to socialism, which would later on get him into trouble with the Icelandic authorities and eventually blacklisted in the U.S regardless of excellent sales and good reviews.

Young Joel doesn’t quite fit in anywhere so he desperately tries to make friends with a local motorcross gang. On a bright summer night Joel gets the chance to get accepted into the gang, but without knowing what kind of sinister process lies ahead.

'Quicksand' is a documentary about the Icelandic middle class today. Despite fulltime work, many struggle to make ends meet. The film follows a family of five in Akureyri, revealing how systemic forces shape their daily lives and economic reality.

Maria is somewhat of a rebel and problem child. Her mother died and her father remarried some awful lady, and Maria isn't happy at all. She takes a drug overdose and winds up in a home for other girls with problems, but the two women who run the place turn out to be not quite the ladies they seemed. Maria knows she can't stay there very long, and starts planning her escape.

A comedy horror about an art collector who becomes obsessed with a cursed painting. The curse, or more specifically the ghost in the painting, doesn't scare the man, but it is what he believes will make his painting collection the best in the world. But he finds himself in danger of losing everything and everyone around him when the painting turns against its owner by destroying everything in its surroundings and terrifying his loved ones.

Ási has to battle giant bird zombies in his backyard so he can go back to sleep.

A stranger highjacks a boat close to the Icelandic shore, and demands to speak to his ex-girlfriend, but she has never heard of him.

Tíu is a glorious journey through sight and sound into the world of the multi-platinum Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men, as they commemorate the 10th anniversary of their groundbreaking debut album My Head Is An Animal.

The Revenge" is a gripping thriller that thrusts a group of friends into a world of danger after one of them mysteriously disappears. As they uncover shocking truths, tensions rise and they must navigate a dark underworld to survive. Trust, survival, and the thirst for revenge intertwine in this intense and electrifying journey. A must-watch that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Six friends on their annual fishing trip realize leaving wives, work and worries at home is really hard work. What was supposed to be a cozy fishing trip, turns out to be a downward spiral to Hell. Let's go fishing.

The film is about travelling on horseback across the Icelandic interior on the main route, which once connected the north of Iceland with the shout. This route was the scene of a tragic accident in the 18th century, when young farmers moving a flock of sheep to the North, perished in a snowstorm. For many years following the incident the track was not used, until the 19th century, when Captain Daniel Bruun from Denmark, accompanied by a photographer and a water-colour artist, crossed the difficult terrain, deep rivers, and rocky heights in sun, rain, fog and wind, marking the way with stones laboriously heaped into cairns.

Kolbeinn and his friends are young Icelandic boxers, training for the Nordic Championship. A serious accident risks compromising their future, both as boxers and young men.