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Distributed for Intellect Ltd

World Film Locations: Reykjavík

Though the creative community of Reykjavík, Iceland, has earned a well-deserved reputation for its unique artistic output—most notably the popular music that has emerged from the city since the 1980s—Reykjavík’s filmmakers have received less attention than they merit. World Film Locations: Reykjavík corrects this imbalance, shedding new light on the role of cinema in a country that, partly because of its small population, produces more films per capita than any other in the world.
 
The contributors to this volume trace cinema in Iceland from the 1979 establishment of the Icelandic Film Fund—before which the country’s film industry barely existed—through today. In a series of illuminating scene reviews, they show how rapidly the city has changed over the past thirty years. In thematic spotlight articles, they go on to explore such topics as the relationship between Iceland and its capital city; youth culture and night life; the relationship between film and the local music community; cinematic representations of Scandinavian crime; and filmmakers’ response to the 2008 banking crisis. Together, these varied contributions show how films shot in Reykjavík have been shaped both by Iceland’s remoteness from the rest of the world and by Icelandic filmmakers’ sense that the city remains forever on the brink of desolate and harsh wilderness.


112 pages | 50 color plates | 6 x 9 | © 2012

World Film Locations

Film Studies

Travel and Tourism: Travel Writing and Guides


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Table of Contents

Introduction

Reykjavík: City of the Imagination
      Jez Conolly and Caroline Whelan
Map of Scenes 1–7: 1962–1992
’A Stupid Man Built His Home On Sand’: A Filmed Response to the Icelandic Banking Crisis
      Júlíana Björnsdóttir
Map of Scenes 8–14: 1995–2005
Urban/Wilderness: Reykjavík’s Cinematic City-Country Divide
      Björn Norðfjörd
Map of Scenes 15–20: 2005–2007
Cultural Capital and Corrugated Iron: The 101 Reykjavík Postcode on Film
      Heiða Jóhannsdóttir
Map of Scenes 21–26: 2008
Violently Funny: Comedic Capers, Claustrophobia, and Icelandic Crime Cinema
      Bjorn Thor Vilhjalmsson
Map of Scenes 27–32: 2009–2010
Björk and Beyond: Reykjavík’s Onscreen Relationship with its Music Scene
      Helga Þórey Jónsdóttir
Map of Scenes 33–38: 2010–2011
A Moving Story: Reykjavík as a Global/Transnational Cinematic City
      Marcelline Block

Resources
Contributor Bios
Filmography

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