Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.09.2016, Blaðsíða 23

sets crews in Iceland apart from the
rest of the world it’s probably that they
deal on a regular basis with situations
where unpredictable weather and un-
forgiving nature plays a huge factor in
the production.”
Rúnar Ingi
“The thing that really stands out is
how long the days are in Iceland. Ev-
ery shooting day is twelve hours and
then almost everybody has to prepare
for the next day. It’s really terrible.
You are so tired and unhappy almost
all of the time. When you’ve finished
your day’s work you have two hours
at the most. But you can only choose
one thing. Eat, watch something, talk
to somebody, have one beer or more
than six hours of sleep. It’s kind of
like prison or something. Now I live
in Denmark where you can only shoot
for like eight hours a day. That’s also
kind of terrible and annoying be-
cause you can’t get a lot done in eight
hours.”
Katrín
“Every film crew I have worked with
in Iceland is male-dominated; you can
easily guess the roles of the women
in the industry and that simply has
to change. Women can carry an Alexa
and hook up some monitors just like
any other guy. Cameras are still heavy
but nothing compared to the film cam-
eras loaded with 1000 ft. of film that
very few are still shooting on now. I’m
hoping to meet more Icelandic female
Directors of Photography and crew
members on my journey in the com-
ing years.
“As an actress in Iceland I’ve done
things that would never have been al-
lowed in America without insurance
and a stunt coordinator. Sex scenes
should also be discussed and choreo-
graphed with actors before shooting
but that has never been the case that
I’ve observed here. The freedom in Ice-
landic filmmaking is wonderful but no
film is worth dying for.
“Making films in New York is in-
sanely expensive, and I wanted to
make the film in Icelandic—I simply
couldn’t picture it anywhere else. I
crowdfunded 'I Can’t Be Seen Like
This' on Karolina Fund. But fund-
ing doesn’t only come from money, it
comes from all kinds of favors from
kind people who wanted to support the
project in different ways, from my dad
picking up my crew from the airport to
my sister feeding us with the spiciest
soup on earth.”
Anna Gunndís
On casting and
collaborating…
“Me and Helgi Björns [the famous Ice-
landic singer and actor who appears
in ‘Playing by Ear’] are both from the
Westfjörds. We meet some years ago
in a pub over there, and he knew I
was starting to make films, and he
asked me to put him in one of my films
someday—more like a joke, he wanted
a cameo. So, when I was casting, I gave
him a call and reminded him of that
chat we had over a beer. And then it
was a done deal.”
Eyþór
“I learned that I never want to do it
again without a full-time producer by
my side. Shooting in January with four
hours of daylight and rapidly changing
weather situation was a challenge with
my crew coming from America with jet
lag. One of the exterior scenes we had
to shoot in I think five different days
because of light and changing weather
conditions. Fireworks in January also
ruins your sound. And convincing my
Argentinian DP to walk on Tjörnin
on the ice was tough, she thought she
would die. Well, the ice did break a
little bit when she stepped on it but
hey. She survived.
Anna Gunndís
“When I’m on set the most important
thing is good communication. I want
everybody to feel that they matter, that
every task, small or big, is important.
We are in this together and this is our
project, not just mine.”
Tinna
“The first thing on my priority list was
that the crew would have enough to
eat. As soon as there is enough to eat
everybody is happy.”
Ísak
On their hopes for
their films…
“We did this film for ourselves as a tool
to become better and find a creative
working platform that we’d like to de-
velop further. We’re currently working
on developing a feature-length film
that would be done in the same man-
ner as ‘Apology’, which helped us shape
the filmic language we want to use
and hopefully it gives people an idea
of what sort of mood they can expect.”
Rúnar Ingi
“I definitely want to make films in Ice-
land. I feel that the stories that come
to me all happen in Iceland and I really
look forward to be able to work at home
along with all of the people I’ve worked
with in the past.”
Katrín
“For the next year or so I will try to get
the film into some festivals in Iceland
and around the world, then hopefully
I will interest some buyers so more
people will be able to watch it.
“At the moment I have an appli-
cation at the film fund for a feature
script I’m working on.”
Eyþór
“I absolutely hope to make films in
Iceland and I have already few projects
lined up both for writing and direct-
ing. Icelandic filmmaking is blooming
and I want to be a part of it. That being
said I’d love to work both in America
and Europe. Scandinavian TV is really
inspiring at the moment, I would also
want to work in LA and possibly the
indie scene in New York but at the mo-
ment Iceland has opportunities for me
and I just have to go for them.”
Anna Gunndís
“I have more ideas than could proceed
in the next 30 years. I’ve already writ-
ten the script for another short film
which I plan on shooting next summer
on the island of Flatey.”
Ísak
“‘Helga’ is now being submitted to
other international film festivals and
I of course hope that something good
will come out of it. Now I’m in the
pre-production process of my next
short film, so I’m aiming to tell more
stories. My next short film will be co-
produced by Pegasus and my newly
launched production company Freyja
Filmwork. I have already started to lay
the foundation of my first feature and
that is what I aim for next.”
Tinna
“RÚV, the Icelandic broadcasting com-
pany, has bought the rights to screen
‘Cubs’. That’s very important to me
as the film will then be accessible to
everyone who wants to see it.
“My hope for ‘Cubs’ is that it will
leave a story behind for the audience
to think over. Hopefully it will inspire
a good variety of reflections.”
Nanna Kristín