Reykjavík Grapevine - apr. 2022, Síða 4

What Are Icelanders
Talkin! About?
Besides the Oscars
Words: Andie Sophia Fontaine Photos: Art Bicnick
Barely five or seven years
ago, any talk about over-
seas reporting of Iceland hunt-
ing fin whales was met with mild
annoyance, if not fierce resistance.
How dare the rest of the world tell
us what we can and cannot do in
our own waters, we’ve been whal-
ing for decades, no one pushes
us around, and so on. Quite a
different tune is being sung now
as Hvalur hf., Iceland’s last fin
whaling company, announced
they would resume whaling after
a three-year hiatus. Minister of
Fisheries and Agriculture Svandís
Svavarsdóttir has heavily implied
that she will likely let Hvalur’s
hunting license expire come 2024,
saying that it is unclear what bene-
fit whaling gives Iceland. Further-
more, not just whale watching tour
guides but the head of the Icelandic
Tourist Board himself, Jóhannes
!ór Skúlason, has said that they
believe the hunt is bad for tourism
and bad for Iceland. What a differ-
ence a few years makes.
Iceland’s Minister of Infrastruc-
ture, chair of the Progressive Party,
and quite likely the least offensive
man in government Sigur!ur
Ingi Jóhannsson has earned the
distinction of starting a beef with
the Russian embassy. The fracas
began when Sigur"ur Ingi was
addressing members of his party
at a weekend conference, referring
to “the villains in the Kremlin” and
saying that he hopes the Russian
people will “rid themselves” of
them. This did not go unnoticed
by the Russian embassy in Iceland,
who replied that Russia’s govern-
ment was democratically elected
and that it was highly inappro-
priate for a foreign government
official to publicly call for regime
change in another country. In
response, Sigur"ur Ingi quipped “I
can apologise if the Russian army
leaves Ukraine.” Bear in mind this
man has the same vibes as your
granddad’s friend who’s really into
coin collecting, ugly Christmas
sweaters, and watching golf on
television. It’s always the last ones
you suspect.
Reykjavík will soon receive the
mixed blessing of Netflix coming
to shoot in Iceland again. No, this
isn’t a sequel of Eurovision Song
Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga.
Rather, the streaming giant will
be coming to Iceland in early April
to shoot an action thriller called
Heart Of Stone. Details are scant,
but there are two things we know:
first of all, it will include stars
such as Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan
and Sophie Okonedo. Second, it
will mean that several downtown
streets will be closed during film-
ing for hours a day, every day of
shooting. And a whole nation
braces itself for the inevitable
social media posts complaining
about being stuck in traffic, and
blurry photos of people who look
like celebrities supposedly spotted
getting a hot dog.
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04— 2022First
NEWS
RUSSIANS HATE HIM! Piss o# the embassy with this one weird trick!
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