Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.  more

My name is Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson and I’m a film director from Reykjavík. I recently made a film, called Á annan veg (Either Way), something I had been contemplating and discussing with myself for quite some time. What follows is a dialogue I was asked to have with myself about the process of making this film.

Published in the 2011 winter issue of Iceland Review – IR 04.11. Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson was interviewed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson. Introduction and photos by Páll Stefánsson.

I: Why are there only two characters in Either Way?

Myself: As you know, we had found it a great challenge to make a film that would be carried by only two characters throughout and to see how little you can get away with to sustain a story and keep audiences interested. Also, the story is about loneliness and isolation and it was very important that these two characters would only have each other and nothing else to get through their difficulties.

I: But you’re not telling them the whole story. That’s only one side of the coin.

Myself: Ok, that was probably the aesthetic reason, but for most art, and especially for film, there is a big financial factor. So by limiting oneself to only two characters, a lot of time and money is saved. So there is that too, but I think the aesthetic approach outweighs the financial one. I mean, this was also great for the actors since they had the opportunity to be in every single scene, which really gave them a chance to stay with and develop their characters. And they did a really great job.

I: That’s true, and there are of course great examples of excellent films in Scandinavian cinema that are carried by only two characters. Persona by Ingmar Bergman and a more recent example, Anti-Christ by Lars von Trier.

Myself: Exactly, these are a kind of chamber film and of course very different from Either Way, which is a dramatic comedy. But Persona became a sort of reference in terms of structure, although it is, like I said, a very, very different film in content and tone.

You can read the remainder of this article in the 2011 winter issue of Iceland Review – IR 04.11. Four times a year the print edition of Iceland Review brings you a wealth of articles on all aspects of life in Iceland including Páll Stefánsson's latest images of the country's majestic landscape. Click here to subscribe and here to browse through a selection of pages from the current issue.

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The current issue of the quarterly magazine Iceland Review includes for example an interview with world-renowned fashion designer Steinunn Sigurðardóttir as well as features on the successful biotech company ORF Genetics and the hot debate regarding the EU. If you subscribe now, you will receive a photo book by IR editor, photographer Páll Stefánsson of the eruptions in Eyjafjallajökull as a gift. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and here to buy a gift subscription.  more

Sweet, honest music from troubadour Svavar Knútur.  more

Does an image say more than a thousand words? Sometimes it does. It is interesting to see Iceland through travelers’ eyes. Some visiting for the twentieth time, others for the first time, but almost all of them focus their lenses on nature; the tiniest details or the greatest panorama of lava fields and mountains.  more

The painter Karen Agnete (1903-1992) was one of many Danish women who married an Icelander and moved with their husbands to Iceland from Copenhagen in the first half of the 20th century. She was fascinated by Iceland and Icelanders; the current exhibition at Kjarvalsstaðir highlights the types of paintings she concentrated on.  more