Iceland review - 2015, Page 22

20 ICELAND REVIEW
to be taking part in the project and were
careful not to give away any details. “That’s
one thing I like about working in Iceland,
people are very interested; people want
to take part. In some other places, people
get annoyed if you film but here people
are excited,” he says. Baltasar says that the
series has the potential to create interest in
the town. “Even though it’s a dark story, I’m
not concerned about it having a negative
impact on the town. We’re bringing the
beautiful scenery to the screen. It was the
same for Edinburgh after Trainspotting was
shot there.”
Trapped was commissioned by Icelandic
national broadcaster RÚV and was pro-
duced with partners including BBC, ZDF
and France Télévisions. Baltasar points out
that it’s extremely rare for a foreign-lan-
guage series to be shown in its original lan-
guage in the U.S., rather than a remake, but
that the Weinstein Company film studio
has picked up the U.S. rights for Trapped.
It’s also the most expensive Icelandic tel-
evision series ever made and Baltasar’s
success in Hollywood is to thank, he says.
“I would never have been able to do the
Icelandic television that we’re doing at the
level we are if I had not gone on this jour-
ney, and I really think it’s good for Iceland
that we can do that,” he says. “It’s good if
you understand what it is,” he responds
when asked if he’s embraced Hollywood.
“Everest, for example, has nothing to do
with Hollywood apart from the fact that
it’s financed by them. In fact, it’s a very
European story.”
The same is true of his upcoming film
Vikingr, based on the Icelandic Sagas, he
says. Baltasar describes the film as his
“passion project” and as one of the reasons
he went to Hollywood. “We will create
a world that has never been seen before.
A lot of Viking films have been made in
Hollywood but they’ve usually been car-
toonish. This is creating heritage and it’s
great for Iceland.” Shooting is set to begin
next year and most of the filming will take
place in Iceland, he says.
Baltasar is also concurrently working
on a host of other projects, including a
television series for CCP, the world’s lead-
ing independent developer of massively
multiplayer games, which is headquartered
in Reykjavík, to bring the EVE Online
Universe to life. Then there’s Reykjavík,
about the 1987 Reagan-Gorbachev peace
meeting in Reykjavík, disaster thriller
Cascade with Cate Blanchett, and Icelandic
psychological thriller The Oath.
The recipient of numerous prizes,
Baltasar says that while it’s always flattering
to win awards, he’s careful about placing
too much meaning in them. “I’m not sure
it changes anything—apart from perhaps
gaining some more attention. You can win
an Oscar and not have a job a couple of
years later.”
PROMOTING FUTURE TALENT
While he seems almost indifferent toward
awards, the domestic film industry is some-
thing Baltasar says he is passionate about
helping to continue to grow. “We are
releasing about five to ten films per year,
which is great for a small country. It’s really
important to me that we continue to devel-
op the industry here. I also want to make
films that I and Icelanders are proud of.”
Government funding needs to increase,
though, he says. “We’re coming out of the
zone after the [2008 financial] crash now.
We need to make a plan for the future. We
have the lowest level of government fund-
ing in film in the Nordic countries.”
Lately there has been a lot of discussion
about the lack of women in the Icelandic
film industry. “I really think this is because
women don’t have the same level of vanity
as men,” he says. “I think it’s about risk tak-
ing. As a woman you are less likely to risk
your life savings or risk having to take your
kids to live at the campground than men.”
There’s also been a lot of talk about the
lack of women receiving film funding.
Baltasar proposes a gender quota system
for funding granted by the Icelandic Film
Fund with the aim of having a 50-50 divi-
sion in five years’ time. “We really want
equality between the genders in filmmak-
ing in Iceland, and that’s our goal over the
next few years. I really hope we have a suc-
cessful young female director, who we can
say is like Björk is to music.”
Speaking of fame, being Icelandic is still
viewed abroad as somewhat of a novelty,
he says. “Sometimes people think it’s inter-
esting or amazing that I’m from Iceland,
but you know, I was sitting at one of those
awards ceremonies the other day think-
ing: ‘well, isn’t everyone from Kópavogur
[Icelandic town]?’” he says laughing;
everyone is from somewhere and there’s a
Kópavogur in every country.
Spending so much time abroad has made
Baltasar appreciate Iceland more. “I really
love coming home. The first thing I do is
give my kids [aged 13 and 26] a big fat hug.
My wife and I have a farm in North Iceland
so we try to get up there as often as we can.
It’s important sometimes to stop, otherwise
it can become ‘just work.’ I am however
totally aware that many people dream of
doing this. You have to be grateful but you
also have to take care of yourself. The high-
er you climb the more you struggle. It’s a
lot of work and it gets harder, not easier.” *
FILM
A scene from Everest.
“Nature is not a theme park.
I want people to think about
man vs. nature. But I’m not
a preacher.”