What is this page?

On Steinninn I, Eysteinn Guðni Guðnason, have gathered info on Icelandic cinema not found elsewhere on the web. Since then I’ve started collecting anything related to the subject; VHS, DVD, programs, CD’s, posters and more. I do think that Icelandic movies should be more accessible to the public and hope that this website contributes to that. I’m still developing the site and hope it will grow in the future.

 

Contact

You can email me at steinninn@steinninn.is

 

Feature Films

This list consists of feature length Icelandic movies. As I started compiling the list I started noticing that this definition is a bit vague or controversial. Some movies are a bit on the border. Movies that I do include that some might not are for example The Juniper Tree (foreign director), Hvíti víkingurinn (foreign producer), Í faðmi hafsins (limited release) among others. Movies that I didn’t include are Saga borgarættarinnar (filmed in Iceland), Voksne mennesker (Icelandic director), Hemma (filmed in Iceland). I hope in the future to do seperate list of movies that were not included in main list.

 

Posters

When I started this website there was little or nothing about Icelandic films online. I started renting them on VHS and scanning the covers to this website. Then I moved to owning them and now I own every VHS featured on the website. I’ve seen my scans being used around the web, including IMDb, Wikipedia, Kvikmyndavefurinn, Kvikmyndir.is, personal websites of actors and actresses as well as directors. Recent VOD services have also used my scans, such as Síminn, Vodafone, ICO and retail stores such as Nammi, eBay and Amazon. I can’t claim copyright for the artwork, so I can only be happy that my work is spreading around the internet.

 

Credit lists

There were only a handful of Icelandic films on IMDb when I started my website. I started the tedious job of adding them one by one. To speed up the process I would take screenshots of the credit list, stitch them together and have them as reference while adding them to IMDb. Then I started uploading these stitched credit lists to my website. Today they serve as a reliable source in case information on who worked on a film is not available elsewhere or other sources might contradict each other.

 

Premier/Release dates

I started noticing that information on release dates where different between websites, since release dates would constantly get moved before the premier. So I figured that the only reliable source would be the newspapers. So on my website you will find release dates with links to the relevant newspaper. Note that sometimes these are invite only premiers. Also, the film might have had an earlier release abroad.

 

Buy/Watch

These are places where you can buy or watch these movies. Usually they are links to somewhere online, but sometimes it’s a physical place like a store or library. This is not an exhaustive list, though I tried my best to do so. Referrals to where to watch a movie could be a payed per view, subscription service or in rare cases somewhere where you can watch it for free.

 

Places in Iceland where you might find movies for sale are (in order of variety): Elko, 2001, Lucky Records, Kolaportið, Penninn, Hagkaup, Nexus, Geisladiskabúð Valda, Góði hirðirinn, Nytjamarkaður ABC, Samhjálp, Basarinn and local flee-markets around Iceland that are to many to list.

 

Releases

As I’ve mentioned I started by renting Icelandic VHS tapes and then moved on to buying them. This became financially feasible because they were sold for 10 krónar ($0.10) in Góði hirðirinn. And because they were so cheep I could buy multiple different releases of the same film. Getting the DVD’s would be a bit more expensive, and there are missing titles in my collection after the year 2010. And as everyone knows since 2015 fewer and fewer films are being released on DVD. Now that I have most of the Icelandic releases I’ve moved on to foreign releases of Icelandic films.

 

Eysteinn Guðni Guðnason