Introduction
The country’s earliest documented film screening took place in Reykjavik in 1903; and in 1906 the first purpose-built cinema was opened, inaugurating a continuing tradition of frequent and regular cinemagoing among Icelanders. Until relatively recently, local film production was confined in the main to shorts, newsreels and ‘topicals’, the first Icelandic sound film, Loftur Gudmundsson’s Milli fjalls og fjöru/Between Mountain and Shore, having been made as late as 1949. Until the 1970s, in fact, Icelandic feature film was essentially part of a larger body of Nordic cinema, with Icelandic directors undertaking their training, and then working, abroad: for example Gunmundur Kamban’s Borgslægtens Historie/The Story of the Borg Family (1920) and Det sovende Hus/Sleeping House (1926) were made in Denmark. Alternatively, Icelandic involvement in feature making tended to be part of cross-Nordic co-productions such as Den røde Kappe/The Red Mantle (Gabriel Axel, Iceland/Denmark/Sweden, 1967). ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Iceland, film in. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 May. 2021
In the library's collections/Searching the online catalog
Selected book title(s)
Dagur Kari's Noi the Albino by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1997 .N5255 N67 2010ISBN: 9780295990095Dagur Kari's Noi the Albino (Noi albinoi, 2003) succeeded on the international festival circuit as a film that was both distinctively Icelandic and appealingly universal. Noi the Albino taps into perennial themes of escapism and existential angst, while its setting in the Westfjords of Iceland provided an almost surreal backdrop whose particularities of place are uniquely Icelandic. ...
World film locations. Reykjavík by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.67 .R49 W67 2012ISBN: 9781841506418Though the creative community of Reykjavík, Iceland, has earned a well-deserved reputation for its unique artistic output--most notably the popular music that has emerged from the city since the 1980s--Reykjavík's filmmakers have received less attention than they merit. World Film Locations: Reykjavík corrects this imbalance, shedding new light on the role of cinema in a country that, partly because of its small population, produces more films per capita than any other in the world.
Other library resource(s)
Icelandic film from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Icelandic cinema is comprised of both familiar features common to all national cinemas and unique ones that make it stand out among all the others. In fact, with its single distinct language, official state religion, government-sponsored cultural production (including cinema), “natural” island borders, and a mostly homogenous population, it comes close to capturing the essence of the concept of national cinema that is so rarely borne out by actuality. Conversely, what makes Icelandic cinema different from the “typical” national cinema is its extreme smallness—arguably the smallest one in all of world cinema. The year 1980 marks the most important turning point in the history of Icelandic cinema since it was then that the first films funded by the newly established Icelandic Film Fund were released in cinemas. ...- Scandinavian film from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286This bibliography covers the cinemas of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. These are usually called the Nordic countries, while Scandinavia is sometimes defined more narrowly, with reference to geography or linguistics. Here, however, Scandinavian and Nordic are used as synonyms. While the Nordic countries certainly share parts of their film histories with each other, there are also notable differences.
Selected movie title(s)
101 Reykjavik by ISBN: 9780794203351A black comedy in which a young man's sexual impulses go haywire when he discovers that the woman he has just slept with happens to be his mother's lesbian lover. Set against Reykjavik's swinging nightlife, Hlynur soon finds that he can't continue resisting adulthood.
Draumalandið = Dreamland by Call Number: Streaming videoDreamland tells the story of a nation with abundance of choices gradually becoming caught up in a plan to turn its wilderness and beautiful nature into a massive system of hydro - electric and geothermal power plants with dams and reservoirs, built to power the increasing heavy industry that will soon make Iceland the largest aluminum smelter in the world. How much unspoiled nature should we preserve and what do we sacrifice for clean, renewable energy? Dreamland gradually turns into a disturbing picture of corporate power taking over nature and small communities. It's the dark side of green energy.
Nói albinói = Nói the Albino by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #3621Seventeen-year-old Nói drifts throught life on a remote fjord in the north of Iceland. In winter, the fjord is cut off from the outside world. The fjord is surrounded by ominous mountains and covered under a shroud of snow. Nói dreams of escaping from his white-walled prison with Iris, a city girl who works in a local gas station. Unfortunately, his clumsy attempts at escape spiral out of control and end in complete failure. Only a natural disaster will offer him a better world.
Rams by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #19899In a secluded valley in Iceland, Gummi and Kiddi live side by side, tending to their sheep. Their ancestral sheep-stock is considered one of the country's best and the two brothers are repeatedly awarded for their prized rams who carry an ancient lineage. Although they share the land and a way of life, Gummi and Kiddi have not spoken to each other in four decades. When a lethal disease suddenly infects Kiddi's sheep, the entire valley comes under threat.
Órói = Jitters by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #14814ISBN: 9781934921623An unexpected first kiss causes Gabriel to feel the electrifying 'jitters' of love and lust with the free-spirited Marcus; a perfect way to end a summer studying abroad. Realizing he is gay, Gabriel returns home and is immediately scrutinized by his family and friends who notice he's different. But as the school year launches with Gabriel distracted with parties and his friends' own dramas, Marcus returns, reigniting the hot, thrilling emotions of one's first crush.
Internet resource(s)
- Icelandic Film CentreThe Icelandic Film Centre is a publicly funded organization that provides funding for Icelandic films, promotes them abroad and nurtures the film culture in Iceland by supporting festivals, seminars, workshops and other networking opportunities for film professionals. ...
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