Húsavík cinema draws audiences back to shared screenings

People are returning to cinemas to watch films together, mbl.is reports, as entrepreneur and Exploration Museum director Örlygur Hnefill Örlygsson has opened a new cinema in the town of Húsavík.

Fjalakötturinn opened this spring. Örlygur also runs a film club and the website fjalakotturinn.is.

“There is a great deal of activity in filmmaking and film culture in rural areas at the moment. Cinemas are now operating in quite a number of places, and they are really good and enjoyable,” Örlygur said.

He said Sambíóin cinemas in Reykjavík had been helping smaller cinemas obtain films, and that he was pleased to see cinema culture returning.

“People are tired of the algorithm and want to come together and watch films together,” he said. Many people were also tired of having to act as programmers of every aspect of their own lives, he added, and preferred to enjoy films in a group and discuss them afterwards.

Documentaries in the autumn

Fjalakötturinn is focusing on documentaries this autumn, with weekly screenings of films connected in some way to life in the region.

Two weeks ago, the cinema showed a film about the church fire in Grímsey. The film’s director, Nikolai Galitzine, and producer, Dögg Mósesdóttir, took questions from the audience afterwards.

Last week, it screened two films by Stefán Jón Hafstein about unusual museums north of the Arctic Circle: the Mánárbakki Heritage Museum and Safnasafnið in Svalbarðseyri, by Eyjafjörður. Örlygur said the museums were very different but both driven by great passion. The screenings were sold out.

The cinema has 60 seats.

During the summer, Fjalakötturinn showed Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, which has attracted considerable interest from foreign visitors.

A name with a cinema history

The name Fjalakötturinn can be traced back to 1906 and Iceland’s first cinema, Reykjavik Biograph Theatre, which was commonly known by that name.

“Master Friðrik Þór Friðriksson later founded a club under this name and kindly gave us permission to reuse this beautiful name,” Örlygur said.

Fjalakötturinn will host a documentary film festival from November 19 to 22, featuring 32 films from around the world. The theme will be exploration, and the cinema will also present a film currently in production that was shot at the North Pole last year.