In A Land Far, Far Away... Iceland in Films

Do I have any film buffs reading this?

Then you've probably seen Iceland has been in the news lately related to the upcoming Star Wars film directed by JJ Abrams. 

This got me thinking about the many times I've watched a movie and tried to guess where the actual shooting location was. Does anyone else play that game? No. Just me? Ok. Cool.

I've decided to compile a list of popular movies/shows that have shot in Iceland.

Game of Thrones

I'm starting with an obvious one but as a huge Game of Thrones fan I had to go for it. Any scene taking place north of the wall is filmed in Iceland. 

http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/File:Wights_1x10.png

Fun fact*: Game of Thrones producers were the first to ever convince the large White Walker community in Iceland to be filmed on camera.

Noah

The upcoming Biblical Darren Aronofsky epic was filmed near Reykjavik in Fossvogur and also in the southern most point of the island in Reynisfjara. Reynisfjara is a breath-taking beach location. Seattle Travels named it as her favorite place in Iceland

Oblivion

Speaking of Dettifoss, the Tom Cruise post-apocalypse movie filmed at the waterfall and other areas around the country to fill in for the ruined landscape. The landscape was the most entertaining part of the movie. 

Prometheus

Many of the exterior shots were filmed in Iceland. The beginning of the film with the Engineer on a waterfall was filmed at the Dettifoss, supposedly the most power waterfall in Europe. Exterior shots around the Engineer ship were shot around Hekla. You may remember Hekla from my previous post, Want to Ride on a Volcano?  

Thor: The Dark World

Waterfalls in Iceland seem to be a popular shooting destination. Scenes of the Dark World for Thor were shot around Iceland, including Skógarfoss and Reykjavik.

http://screenrant.com/thor-2-costumes-photos-gallery/thor-2-the-dark-world-official-still-photo-asgard-waterfall/

What are your tell-tale signs of something being filmed in Iceland? Craggy landscape? Glaciers? Movies taking place in Iceland? 

*There are no such things are White Walkers, I think. 

Icelandic Films: The Final Member

Some go to see art. Some go to see monuments. And some... well, they go to see "members"

A new documentary, The Final Member coming in a few weeks is about the Icelandic Phallological Museum located in Husavik, Iceland. The film is set to be screen at the Alamo Drafthouse in Younkers from April 18th - 24th. It will also be available on VOD starting on the 18th.

The film follows Sigur∂ur "Siggi" Hjartarson, founder and curator of the museum as he looks for the holy grail piece of his collection, a human phallus. 

Take a glance at the preview...

Summary from the film's website, The Final Member

Paris has the Louvre, London has the Tate Modern, and New York the Metropolitan Museum. But Husavik, Iceland—a diminutive village on the fringe of the Arctic Circle—boasts the world’s only museum devoted exclusively to painstakingly preserved male genitalia. Founded and curated by Sigurður “Siggi” Hjartarson, the Icelandic Phallological Museum houses four decades worth of mammalian members, from a petite field mouse to the colossal sperm whale, and every “thing” in between. Lamentably, Siggi’s collection lacks the holy grail of phallic phantasmagoria: a human specimen. Siggi’s world changes dramatically when he receives generous offers from an elderly Icelandic Casanova and an eccentric American. However, as the competition for eternal penile preservation heats up between the two men, Siggi soon discovers that this process is more complicated than it initially appeared.In their debut feature film, Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math follow Siggi on his dogged, often emotional quest to complete his exhibition in a peculiar, yet startlingly relatable, story of self-fulfillment and the value of personal legacies (both big and small).