Reykjavík Grapevine - des. 2021, Blaðsíða 22

Just Human
Stories
'Hvunnda!shetjur' tells the tales of forei!n
women in Iceland
Words: Andie Sophia Fontaine Photos: Saga Sigur!ardóttir
‘Hvunndagshetjur’ is a new film
from Magnea Björk Valdimarsdót-
tir. It tells the tales of four people
of foreign origin living in Iceland.
There’s a lot about this movie that
Icelanders may find eye-opening,
and that many foreigners living in
Iceland may find very relatable.
In one example, a woman named
Karolina, who is originally from
Poland but has been living in Ice-
land for over 20 years, reflects on
the much-heard question “Where
are you from?” With a heavy sigh
and a wry laugh she admits, “I am
so tired of this question.”
But what inspired an Icelandic
woman to make a film like this?
"Injustice,” Magnea says without
hesitation. “I've been working in
restaurants, book stores and bars
downtown since I was 20 and I've
always worked with foreigners. I've
not stood by when I witnessed in-
justice; when they've gotten a lower
salary and so forth. [I was]Karo-
lina’s first Icelandic friend, and
today she's one of my best friends.
I've witnessed injustice, violence,
unfair pay and many things that
inspired this. Many foreign friends
of mine, for example one friend of
mine from Algeria, he was once
beaten up on his way home. These
kinds of stories, these endless sto-
ries where just judging by your
looks you're beaten up.”
Things to be thankful
for
Although Magnea has lived abroad
herself, in Spain and France, she
doesn’t presume to know exactly
what it’s like to be a person of for-
eign origin in Iceland.
“I've always been surrounded by
foreign friends and have lived a lot
abroad and travelled the world, so
maybe that's opened my eyes to the
feeling of being a foreigner,” she
says. “But I can say that I'm very
aware that I'm a privileged person
compared to my friends who are
North African. They're treated dif-
ferently than I am as a foreigner.
But I just wanted to point out dif-
ferent life stories as well. Ordinary
people with crazy life stories. The
hidden people that we don't think
of every day—taking care of our
children or at the cash register at
Bónus. People we maybe don't re-
ally see and should be thankful for."
She continues: "I was just thank-
ful to get to know these four friends
of mine even better. There are
things you can't ever understand
unless you've been through them,
like war. They talk about losing
their parents, which I also haven't
experienced. I've been through
different kinds of trauma in life,
so just to have this human touch
that we all go through, maybe it
was surprising that their stories
of what they've gone through touch
everybody, I have noticed. All ages
and all genders, it doesn't matter.
They're just human stories. So
maybe if you haven't been through
these things, you just connect in a
human way. That was something
that I was very thankful for."
The colourfulness and
the joy
Magnea has very clear ideas on
what she hopes Icelanders take
away from ‘Hvunndagshetjur.’
"I just want to raise awareness,”
she says. “I want to point out that
this shouldn't have to be pointed
out. That these voices should be
heard. If you think about sexual
violence and injustice, women of
foreign origin often experience
more of that than other groups. I
also wanted to point out the posi-
tive things; the culture, colorful-
ness and joy that immigrants bring
to Iceland. It would be really sad
to walk downtown like we did in
the 90s, when there were no tour-
ists and not so many foreigners,
and we were just like 'Yes, this
is downtown, just two people on
Laugavegur'. Society's blooming
thanks to them. So I want to point
out that we should celebrate that,
and bring more focus to them so
it will be common; so it won't be
strange.”
She also hopes foreign audiences
find some comfort in the film.
"I just hope that foreigners liv-
ing in Iceland feel heard, and that
it encourages them to raise their
voices” Magnea tells us. “Even
though you're tired of these silly
questions, you know, 'Where are
you from? Oh, you're a foreigner!'
and such, to not give up. Language
is always a way into society, but it
can be hard. You can't be a single
mother working 16 hours a day,
come home to your kids, and you
don't have time to go and learn Ice-
landic in the evening.”
"I just want us to show a little
tolerance,” she says in closing.
“I want to bring some love and
hope into this world. We're all in
the same boat. We don't need this
apartheid bullshit.”
Info: ‘Hvunndagshetjur’ will be
shown at Háskólabíó from December
6th through 9th, and aired on RÚV
after Christmas.
One of the four amazing women featured
Magnea Björk Valdimarsdóttir
Television