Producer's Comment

By Fridrik Thor Fridriksson 

 

Avalanches are a highly delicate subject in Iceland. In the past ten years two fishing villages have been wiped out and number of people lost their lives. The novel "Kaldaljós" by Vigdís Grímsdóttir, partly based on the events, strongly translates the cruelty of nature, the lives and emotions of the victims and survivors alike.

Those events and her book have been a challenge to the writers of the script and myself for years, the challenge to bring the story to the screen, which Grimsdottir so masterfully words. We have tried to address the subject by respecting the feelings and existence of people living at close range with this forceful element of nature and the memory of the victims. And by finding ways to visualize those feelings and transfer the terrifying face of nature into the, often, brutal media of Cinema.

After years of labor, I am totally pleased with the script and the partners onboard feel the same. Almost two years ago I produced a film titled IKINGUT, with my Norwegian partner,Filmhuset AS, where they contributed with special effects, which included a scene with an avalanche. The SFX in Ikingut are very impressive and as a matter of fact what I am most pleased with in that film. Sigurdur Sv. Pálsson, DOP of Cold Light, shot Ikingut too and the plan is to bring Martin Gant on board again.

Reykjavík, July 2002.
Fridrik Thor Fridriksson