Kvikmyndapod: An Icelandic Cinema Podcast

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...

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. With some absolutely beautiful...

Halló! Rob and Ellie return with a special episode all about something brand new and available to watch in the UK right now! Director of 'A White, White Day', Hlynur Pálmason recently gave us a new short film titled 'NEST' (available on MUBI) about the building of a treehouse over the course of 18 months, and the daily interactions that his kids have with it. For a 22-minute film this packs in all...

Halló! And so another journey through the cinema of Iceland ends. For this final episode of series three, Rob and Ellie discuss the beautiful 'Heartstone' from 2016. Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson's debut feature is a coming-of-age drama set in the remote east of the country near the fishing village of Seyðisfjörður. Best friends Þór and Kristján negotiate their teenage emotions and sexual urges as o...

Halló! It's the penultimate week of Rob and Ellie's third journey round Iceland and this time they're in Svarthamar in the Westfjords for a rural tale of grief and a unique way of dealing with it - Metal music! Director Ragnar Bragason's 'Metalhead' stars Thora Bjorg Helga as Hera, a young lady who witnesses her brother's death and finds solace in the music of the bands he loved - Judas Priest, Me...

Halló! Having seen plenty of sheep over the course of this podcast, it's the turn of the great Icelandic horse this week, as Rob and Ellie travel out into the wilds once again for a darkly comic tale of love, death, and the relationship between man and beast. Director Benedikt Erlingsson's feature debut 'Of Horses and Men' is a series of beautifully shot interconnected vignettes that demonstrate j...

Halló! Week three of series three finds Rob and Ellie almost back on terra firma in Iceland - with just a little trip to the Netherlands to score some booze! One of the more mainstream, 'Hollywood' efforts to come out of Iceland in the 2000s, Óskar Jónasson's 'Reykjavik-Rotterdam' re-teams Baltasar Kormákur with Ingvar Sigurðsson and Arnaldur Indriðason for a sort-of heist thriller about a former...

Halló! The next leg of Rob and Ellie's journey takes them away from Iceland to the exotic mountain jungles of Nepal! Kvikmyndapod is leaving the country of Iceland behind for the first time, for 'The Hero's Journey to the Third Pole' in which Andri Snær Magnason and Anní Ólafsdóttir artfully document the efforts of Anna Tara Edwards and musician Högni to put on a concert to raise awareness of bipo...

Halló! Welcome to the Official Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson podcast... Or rather, thanks for catching up with Rob and Ellie as they journey round the 'Land of Ice and Fire' for a third time! Series 3 of Kvikmyndapod kicks off with one of, if not THE biggest Icelandic film of the 21st century; LAMB. A Cannes award-winner co-written by Sjón with the film's director Valdimar Jóhannsson, LAMB takes place...

Halló! It's the end of series two! And the final trip on Rob and Ellie's second journey takes them to the Reykjanes Peninsula for a drama focused on two women from different backgrounds learning how they can help each other. Ísold Uggadóttir's debut feature is a beautifully stark look at immigration and the struggle to lead a normal life. Starring Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir, Babetida Sadjo and Pat...

Halló! For their penultimate trip this series, Rob and Ellie journey to the south-east of Iceland to find Ingvar Sigurðsson playing a very different kind of police officer character to Detective Erlendur. Writer-director Hlynur Pálmason's second feature film, A White, White Day, from 2019, depicts a man named Ingimundur trying to hold himself together after the death of his wife while also support...

Halló! It's Halloween and another BONUS episode! In the first all-out horror film discussed on the podcast, Rob and Ellie, plus very special guest Mike Muncer from the Evolution of Horror podcast, hit the water in the fjords near Reykjavík for Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre. Directed by Júlíus Kemp and written by Sjón this is a film that knows its horror touchstones, specifically The Texas Chai...

Halló! In this BONUS episode Rob and Ellie journey to the remote countryside of northern Iceland as well as the 'big' city of Reykjavík by way of the BFI London Film Festival! In a non-spoiler discussion, they chat about the two rather different Icelandic movies that were shown as part of the festival in 2021.   LAMB Directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson Written by Sjón and Valdimar Jóhannsson Starring...

Halló! Things get musical in week four of Rob and Ellie's second journey through the films of Iceland.  Subtitled 'The Basement Tapes of Sigríður Níelsdóttir', this documentary sheds light on the wonderful low-key musical life of a 70-year old lady living in a basement flat in Reykjavik. Charming and sweet, 'Grandma Lo-Fi' shows how Sigríður made her music and explores the influence she had on the...

Halló! For the third week of Rob and Ellie's second journey through Icelandic cinema, they remain in the Westfjords. And this time it's even colder! Starring 'X-Men' alumnus Tómas Lemarquis as the title character, 'Nói albinói' is a strange indie comedy-drama about a disenchanted teenager who wants (and needs) to escape his isolated Icelandic town. The question on everybody's lips is "is he super...

Halló! The next leg of Rob and Ellie's journey takes them to the breathtaking yet creepy af Westfjords of Iceland. Adapted from the novel by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Óskar Thór Axelsson's movie version of 'I Remember You' combines the classic Scandi noir with the ghost story. Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson plays Freyr, a father looking for answers surrounding his son's disappearance. Working with the pol...

Halló! And welcome back to Kvikmyndapod. Rob and Ellie return for series 2 just in time for Autumn! In this first episode of the new series they explore contemporary political issues by looking at Benedikt Erlingsson's award-winning eco comedy-drama! Halla, a middle-aged choir teacher takes action against the heavy industry of Iceland, careening around the spectacular countryside sabotaging electr...

Halló! Journey one is over, so Rob and Ellie have a quick catch up about what they've learned from, and enjoyed about, the first six films covered on the pod. And say a big thank you to everyone has been listening!   Please subscribe, rate and review and Follow us on Twitter @KVIKMYNDAPOD and Instagram kvikmyndapod   Artwork designed by Sophie Watts ( justahappyspace ) Thank you!   Music by Branch...

Halló! And so on the summer solstice Rob and Ellie celebrate the final leg of their first journey through Icelandic cinema with some sun-based neighbour rage! In the suburbs of Reykjavík, things heat up between two families as a garden tree prevents some sun-bathing. It may not sound like much, but this is cause for some of the most outrageous drama seen this series! Starring some familiar faces (...

Halló! This week, at the height of summer, Rob and Ellie celebrate Christmas and New Year in Iceland with Rúnar Rúnarsson's Echo! A beguiling and emotional series of real and staged vignettes exploring the many experiences of the Icelandic festive season. There's the oldies aqua aerobics, a New Year's birth, a particularly awkward meeting between half-sisters, beer theft, and many more scenes runn...

Halló! For the fourth leg of their journey through Icelandic cinema, Rob and Ellie hitch a ride out of the capital with the police to investigate a murder that reveals a whole bunch of secrets closely related to the people and the history of the country. 6 years and 2 films after 101 Reykjavik, Baltasar Kormákur adapted an Icelandic crime novel by the incredibly popular Arnaldur Indriðason. Jar Ci...

Halló! In the third film discussion on their Icelandic cinema journey, Rob and Ellie stay put in Reykjavík for a stunning but tough look at the lives of drug-addicted teens in the capital. Baldvin Z's Let Me Fall takes universal modern issues and focuses on how they play out in contemporary Iceland, bringing in local stories such as the cases from the mid-2000s known as 'týndu stúlkurnar', or 'los...

Halló! The second leg of Rob and Ellie's journey through the cinema of Iceland finds them in the capital city, for powerhouse director Baltasar Kormákur's debut film, 101 Reykjavík. The first Icelandic film of the 21st century sets the buzzing, drunken nightlife of the capital against the wilderness and solitary life to be found in the rest of the country. With music by Damon Albarn and a new way...

Halló! In the first film discussion on their journey through Icelandic cinema, Rob and Ellie take a look at possibly the biggest crossover hit, Grímur Hákonarson’s darkly comic drama Rams. Expect chat about sheep, knitwear, sibling rivalry and what it means to be a farmer in 21st century Iceland. And there's a dog too!   Please subscribe and Follow us on Twitter  @KVIKMYNDAPOD   Read Rob's blog po...

Halló! Welcome to Kvikmyndapod: An Icelandic Cinema Podcast. In this short intro episode Rob and Ellie discuss their knowledge of Iceland and its films (and pronunciations!) and look forward to the upcoming series.    Please subscribe and Follow us on Twitter @KVIKMYNDAPOD   Artwork designed by Sophie Watts   Music by Branches Bare ('Half-light' from the EP 'In the Origami folds of the Night You R...