Icelandic musical film premieres without public funding

Mbl.is reports that the new Icelandic musical film Hvar er draumurinn?, based on songs by the band Sálin hans Jóns míns, premiered ahead of the weekend. The film is set in Reykjavík in the early 1990s and draws on the music, spirit and culture of the period.

The film has attracted particular attention because it was made without any public grants. “With determination and passion as our weapons,” Höskuldur said. “I brought very good people on board who were hungry and ready to devote their heart and soul to the project. It is really just a large group of friends, and last summer was one big fit of laughter for us. Nobody was there for the money.”

Filming lasted 25 days, while post-production took about a year. Höskuldur is 28, and most of the people involved, both in front of and behind the camera, are around the same age.

“Of course, it was a challenge,” he said. “It was a big mountain that we had to climb. But it makes it all the sweeter to finally see the film on the big screen.”

The story is set in Reykjavík at the very beginning of the 1990s, when Sálin was enjoying enormous popularity. Höskuldur said he was drawn to the band’s early music, but that the film also explores its wider catalogue, including later songs such as Undir þínum áhrifum and Þú fullkomnar mig.

The aim was for the music to be more than background sound and to serve as an active part of the story. Further coverage of Hvar er draumurinn? and an interview with Höskuldur appear in Morgunblaðið’s Sunday paper.