Kvikmyndapod: An Icelandic Cinema Podcast

Halló!

Episode five finds Rob and Ellie in the UK! But not for too long as this week's film follows a group of people with a fear of flying boarding an exposure flight to, you guessed it, Iceland!

Our Fearless Flyers include Sarah (played by Lydia Leonard), a competent business woman who wants to overcome her fear so she can go on holiday with her partner and his daughter; Edward (Timothy Spall), a popular writer and army veteran; ...

Halló!

For episode four, Rob and Ellie return to Reykjavík and the Nordic Noir genre for 2016's 'Cruelty', directed by Anton Sigurðsson.

When two young sisters are found murdered in the woods of a Reykjavík suburb, detectives Edda and Jói are called on to solve a case with few to no clues. But a long list of possible suspects...

Starring Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir and Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, this is a cold, bleak and grim crime thri...

Halló!

Episode three finds Rob and Ellie taking an eccentric road trip south from the Westfjords of Iceland with Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson's Jón and his deceased mother, played by Kristbjörg Kjeld!

Set in the 1980s, Hilmar Oddson's black and white comedy drama is an offbeat delight about a man coming to terms with what his life could have been and now could be. These revelations occur as he drives a beat up Ford Cortina across the unf...

Halló!

This week Rob and Ellie travel north to the remote area of Strandir in the Icelandic Westfjords for a romantic period piece.

In Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir's 'A Letter From Helga', or 'Svar við bréfi Helgu', farmers Bjarni and Helga (played beautifully by Thorvaldur Kristjansson and Hera Hilmar) begin a passionate affair as the rest of their small town whisper secrets to one another.

Emotions run high and big decisions need to...

Kvikmyndapod is back for series 6!

For episode one, Rob and Ellie invite you to a funny, stressful and cringe dinner party in Vesturbær.

Directed by Elsa Maria Jakobsdóttir, 'Wild Game' is one of over 20 country-specific adaptations of the Italian movie 'Perfetti sconosciuti', 'Perfect Strangers'. This version features an all star Icelandic cast including Anita Briem, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir, Hilmir Snær G...

Halló!

It's that time again, and on this week's episode Rob and Ellie return to Reykjavík for a conspiracy thriller based on a book.

The film is Óskar Thór Axelsson's 'Operation Napoleon: Frozen Conspiracy', based on Arnaldur Indriðason's 1999 best-selling novel 'Operation Napoleon'. Starring Iain Glen, Vivian Ólafsdóttir, Jack Fox and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson this is a romp in the vein of the 'Indiana Jones' films but with glaciers, ...

Halló!

This week, for Rob and Ellie's fifth trip around the cinema of Iceland, they head back out to the countryside for some creepy goings on at a remote cabin... 

The film under discussion this week is Erlingur Thoroddsen’s ‘Rift’, or ‘Rokkur’ from 2017. Gunnar (Björn Stefánsson) and Einar (Sigurður Þór Óskarsson) get to grips with their fractured relationship amid some spooky situations in the middle of nowhere. Questions abound...

Halló!

This week Rob and Ellie take another trip to south east Iceland just in time for the UK release of Hlynur Pálmason's Godland!

An incredibly shot epic about a Danish priest's mission to conquer a corner of Iceland and spread the word of God, this is film-making of the highest level.

Elliott Crosset Hove stars as Lucas, the Danish man of God who butts heads with Ingvar Sigurðsson's Ragnar, an Icelandic man very much of the lan...

Halló!

Episode three finds Rob and Ellie back in Reykjavík for a psychological thriller from first time director Tinna Hrafnsdóttir, who also wrote the film based on a book by Auður Jónsdóttir.

'Quake', or 'Skjálfti' from 2021 tells the story of an author and mother named Saga who, after an epileptic seizure, experiences memory loss at the same time as hidden memories of family secrets begin to resurface.

With a brilliant central p...

Halló!

The second episode of series 5 takes Rob and Ellie to 90s America for a 25-minute, Oscar-nominated coming-of-age animation called 'My Year of Dicks'!

Directed by Sara Gunnarsdóttir and written by American screenwriter and actress Pamela Ribon, the short film is split into five chapters, each one about young Pam's encounters with the boy's she hopes will fall in love with her and take her virginity.

Available to watch now at ...

Halló!

It's series 5! And to kick things off for their fifth journey through the cinema of Iceland, Rob and Ellie are keeping things current with Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson's 'Beautiful Beings', or 'Berdreymi' from 2022!

Available to watch on demand from today, Guðmundsson's second feature film focuses on teenage boys once again, except this time in the city. Set in the Reykjavik suburbs, this film focuses on a group of boys and t...

Halló!

And gleðileg jól!

As a little Christmas gift, Rob and Ellie reconvened for a short chat about Christmas, Christmas films, Icelandic films and Icelandic Christmas.

This episode is mostly a general chat, however part of the discussion does revolve around a small scene from Grímur Hákonarson's 'Rams' or 'Hrútar' from 2015 - the very first film covered on the podcast. The scene timecode is 45:30 - 52:27 and the film is available...

Halló!

And so another journey through the cinema of Iceland ends. For this final episode of series four, Rob and Ellie discuss the multi-narrative drama 'Life in a Fishbowl' from 2014.

Baldvin Z's second feature follows the lives of three Icelanders living in Reykjavik and the ways in which they influence each other, for better or worse. One is a single mother and occasional sex worker, one is an alcoholic writer, and the other is ...

Halló!

This week, Rob and Ellie return to Reykjavik and to the documentary format for Gaukur Úlfarsson's 'Gnarr', a film in which famous Icelandic comedian Jón Gnarr sets up a satirical political party and runs for Mayor of Reykjavík!

Over the course of four months Gnarr transforms from joke candidate to favourite, and his outlook and intentions change too...

The film can be found at dafilms.com.

Please subscribe/follow, rate and...

Halló!

In this week's minisode Rob and Ellie journey, via Denmark, to the south east of Iceland, by way of the BFI London Film Festival!

In a non-spoiler discussion, they chat about the one Icelandic movie that was shown as part of the festival in 2022. One of only eight films in Official Competition!

GODLAND

Directed by Hlynur Pálmason

Written by Hlynur Pálmason

Starring Elliott Crosset Hove, Ingvar Sigurðsson, Vic Carmen Sonne,...

Halló!

And Happy Halloween!

To celebrate spooky season, Rob and Ellie bring together two recent Icelandic B-Movie horror-comedies.

First up is Elvar Gunnarsson’s trippy 'It Hatched' in which a baby is born from an egg laid by a human woman in a guesthouse in a remote fjord. If that doesn't sounds bonkers, then the rest of the film will do the convincing!

This is followed by comedy troupe Leikhópurinn X's 'Thirst’ or Þorsti from 20...

Halló!

Week two finds Rob and Ellie heading a third of the way round the country, from the south towards the Westfjords, for 'Rams' director Grímur Hákonarson's second feature film 'The County'.

Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir plays Inga, one half of a farming couple left to fight a local farming co-op for their bullying and shady keep-it-in-the-community tactics.

With true life story elements, calm and incredibly composed cinematography ...

Halló!

Rob and Ellie reconvene for a fourth go around the cinema of Iceland!

This week it's a return to the work of Baltasar Kormákur and his 2012 drama, based on real-life events, The Deep.

Ólafur Darri Ólafsson plays Gulli, a fisherman living on the island of Heimaey in the south of Iceland, whose boat capsizes. What happens next is a remarkable story of survival.

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