Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.04.2019, Qupperneq 42

Finding Sóley
Famed cult Icelandic movie gets a shape-up
Words: Þórður Ingi Jónsson Photos: Ómar Sverrisson
Movie
Support the ‘Sóley’ restoration
efforts via the Karolina Fund
website.
The 1982 Icelandic art-house film
‘Sóley’ (also known as ‘The Hidden
People of the Shadowy Rocks’) has
long been lost, save for a few boot-
leg copies floating around. The
film was directed by the enigmatic
artist Róska in collaboration with
her husband, Manrico Pavelottoni.
Róska is one of the most impor-
tant Icelandic artists of the 20th
century—she was a leader of the
avant-garde art scene during the
baby boomer era, a multi-talented
artist, and a staunch communist.
‘Sóley’ is a legendary film that
draws heavily on Icelandic folk
stories and mythology—as well as
the left-wing politics of the time.
Lost negative
The film’s negative is lost, but now
filmmakers Þorbjörg Jónsdóttir
and Lee Lorenzo Lynch are work-
ing full force to try and restore
the film. Þorbjörg—who happens
to be Róska’s niece—and Lee have
launched a crowdfunding cam-
paign on Karolina Fund to pay for
a full digital clean-
up of the film’s video
and audio, as well as
full colour and sub-
title correction. The
couple recently col-
laborated with the
Icelandic Film Mu-
seum on scanning
the film in 6k reso-
lution, but the only
copy that was available was an ex-
hibition print from the museum.
“That was quite a substantial
job,” says Lee. “Getting the film
scanned was great. It looks beauti-
ful, and it’s the first time the film
has ever been transferred to any
form of high definition. It always
had a sort of DIY feel to it and it
was shot on 16mm, so it’s always
gonna feel sort of like a punk film.
It was really nice to collaborate
with the Icelandic Film Museum
on this.”
Next gen
‘Sóley’ was one of the few films
directed by a woman in Iceland at
the time and one of the very few
feature-length art-
house films made in
the country. It was
Róska’s only feature
film, but she worked
on many documenta-
ries and short films
as well, even working
with Jean-Luc God-
ard in Italy for a time.
Róska was often con-
troversial with the critics in Ice-
land, but now newer generations
are discovering the important
work she did.
“She was a controversial art-
ist when she was alive,” Þorbjörg
says. “However, the young gener-
ation now is getting to know her
through her work, though they
didn’t know her personally. Some-
times we’re better off appreciating
the work for the work itself when
there’s a little bit of distance.”
Still relevant
“I think the film is still really rel-
evant,” she continues. “It’s politi-
cal and it stands up for the small
guy.” Lee adds: "Any time you forge
a new path, it’s gonna take time
for people to catch up with that.
When we screened ‘Sóley’ at IÐNÓ
on March 25th, a lot of younger
people came, as well as some of
my students, and we were actually
surprised at how much the young-
er generation of Icelanders liked
the film. It was heartwarming.”
The couple encourages every-
one to consider making a con-
tribution to their Karolina Fund
page. “The film totally belongs out
there, representing Icelandic film
history within the larger canon
of world cinema,” says Þorbjörg.
“Being a female director as well
as a visual artist, what Róska was
doing was super progressive."
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Share this + Archives
These two are fixing up 'Sóley' for you (not the musician)
"Any time you
forge a new
path, it’s gon-
na take time
for people to
catch up.”
?
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