Language of Light

A stranger highjacks a boat close to the Icelandic shore, and demands to speak to his ex-girlfriend, but she has never heard of him.

Five stories interwine into one. A blind man hovers above the city. Everything looks set for a perfectly normal evening in Reykjavík, until the the power goes off?

A documentary about teachers' strikes in Iceland in the latter half of the 20th century with a special focus on 1995.

The 1955 strike in Reykjavík was one of the hardest-hitting strikes in Iceland’s history. The Reykjavík of the time was a growing cultural city that was experiencing an increase in luxury goods but also full-fledged poverty. The trade unions were pressing for improved social rights in a political environment often ruled by the Cold War. The stage was set for an unprecedented siege.

North West tells the amazing story of one of the biggest rescue operation Iceland has seen after a huge avalanche hit a small fishing village, Flateyri, 26. of October 1995. Before an outside help reached Flateyri the locals were on their own during the first five hours, searching and digging up their neighbors, friends and relatives and organizing the rescue. Many obstacles, such as storm and further danger of avalanches, were on the way as rescue teams nation wide, helicopters and ships tried to find their way to Flateyri. This snow avalanche was on of the deadliest in Iceland’s history, and the 1995 is memored as being the most costly in human lives in recent, local history of natural disasters. This story is told by rescuers, media people, the former president of Iceland, and survivors who some were under the snow for 9 hours.

Among visitors and interviewees are refugees from the Donetsk region, an artist and the city‘s mayor who explains the quality of the water and its significance for the city in order to continue. The audicence come also across a group of people preparing an outdoor festival in the woods and have a glimpse into a theater.