Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.06.2018, Blaðsíða 29

Birkir Már Sævarsson, Iceland's leading football salt bae
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ing, “[The] savage black comedy
passes almost imperceptibly into
stunned, visceral tragedy—like a
laugh turning in the throat and
coming out as a choke.”
Aggressively meek
‘Last Call’ though, marks Hafste-
inn’s entry into full-length docu-
mentaries. The shift in medium
was a welcome change for the art-
ist. “Making a documen-
tary is like when you go
hunting or fishing,” he
says. “You never know
what you’re going to
catch, or even if you’re go-
ing to catch something,
while in fiction film you
plan ahead and go for
something really spe-
cific.” He pauses, trying
to find the right words.
“It’s a loose format com-
pared to a stiff one.”
His most unexpected
catch su r rou nds t he
Icelandic national an-
them, ‘Iceland’s Thou-
sand Years.’ “I had never
thought much about it,
but it ended up becom-
ing our starting point,”
he says. For background,
the Icelandic national
anthem is an interpre-
tation of Psalm 90 from
the Book of Psalms, which is a
part of the Old Testament. In the
section, Moses discusses man’s
mortality and prays for compas-
sion from the Lord. It’s a relatively
meek passage—not something
you’d expect to boost patriotism.
Humility and modesty
The film focuses heavily on this
sentiment, discussing how the Ice-
landic national anthem preaches
humility and modesty rather than
blatant nationalism. This is radi-
cally different from—as the film
refers to them—the bloody Danes
who sing about the beauty and fer-
tility of their nation. The Icelandic
song takes a subservient position,
rather than an aggressive one.
“I find the lyrics very humble.
They have a great message,” Haf-
steinn says. For him, Icelandic
nationalism, or rather the way it
is expressed, all goes back to Ice-
land’s status as a small remote
island. “We have a minority com-
plex,” he states simply. “We are
small and we are few.” He refer-
ences Milan Kundera’s philosophy
about how small nations are al-
ways worried about their right to
exist. The World Cup is a moment
where Iceland has the stage to do
so, which has spurred a craze of
patriotic pride.
Breaking the bubble
But for Hafsteinn, the documen-
tary’s discoveries weren’t all so so-
bering. One of best parts
of the filming process,
he emphasises, was get-
ting to know the foot-
ballers. “They are such
humble, honest, ground-
ed, and solid guys. It was
a nice discovery because
I didn’t know them or
their culture very well
before,” he says. “You
know, I’m in my own lit-
tle bubble, which is very
far away from sports.”
Talking about
the team gives him a
burst of uncharacter-
istic energy. “You know
they work from nine in
the morning until one
in the afternoon if they
don’t have games,” he
says, almost baffled. “So
they have so much time,
like Jón Daði [Böðvars-
son] started playing the
guitar and learning Spanish.” He
bursts out laughing. It’s clear he
admires the team greatly, and that
they, as well as the project itself,
has irrevocably changed him and
perhaps even inspired more pa-
triotism.
Hey—t he meek m ig ht b e
blessed, but it’s the proud that win
the World Cup.
29The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11 — 2018
Sigurður Guðjónsson
Tumi Magnússon
Unnar Örn
Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir
Þórdís Jóhannesdóttir
Curators:
Aðalheiður Valgeirsdóttir & Aldís Arnardóttir
Skaftfell - Center for Visual Art
Seyðisfjörður, East Iceland
www.skaftfell.is
OPEN DAILY 12.00-18.00, WEDNESDAYS UNTIL 20.00.
June 16. - Sept. 2. 2018
SKAFTFELL GALLERY
K A PA L L
C
A
B
L
E
“We have
a minority
complex.
We are
small and
we are few.”