The cast and crew of Baltasar Kormákur and Sigurjón Kjartansson’s upcoming crime series Trapped (Ófærð) have taken over the North Icelandic town of Siglufjörður (population 1,200). A group of around 70 people recently arrived in town to set up for what is expected to be the most extensive television series filmed in Iceland to date. Shooting begins today.
When asked by Fréttablaðið if the team had taken over the town, Sigurjón replied “Yes, this is a so-called friendly takeover.” Residents of the town told Iceland Review during a visit to Siglufjörður last week that there is much secrecy surrounding the production.
Sigurjón told visir.is that he is excited to see the project finally become a reality after three years of preparation. The series will be ten hours in length, which is roughly the same as five films.
Aside from Baltasar, three other Icelandic directors are taking part in the project: Baldvin Z (Life in a Fishbowl, 2014), Óskar Þór Axelsson (Black’s Game, 2012) and Börkur Sigþórsson, who is known for his work in advertising. Sigurjón, who wrote the script along with Clive Bradley, Ólafur Egilsson and Jóhann Ævar Grímsson, is the series’ showrunner.
The series is being produced in cooperation with German television station ZDF as well as state broadcasters in the other Nordic countries and France 2. The series will be dubbed in German and French.
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (A Walk Among the Tombstones, 2014; The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 2013; The Deep, 2012) will play the lead role.
