Howz that for a hat trick? Every film that won an award at tonight's Nordisk Panorama Awards Gala was written up or mentioned in yours truly's Festival Newsletter! It's like I'm psychic or it's like perfect synchronicity or maybe its a good thing that I know NONE of the jury members or it might seem a bit fixed. Hmmm.
(Toggi's laughing at me because what I just wrote sounds kinda egotistical. But don't you see how weird it is? There were, what, 140 films shown at the festival. I wrote about maybe ten total, and seven out of those ten won awards!)
Not to say that every film or director I interviewed or wrote about won. I'd like to specifically mention The Comet, which I love and which I would have loved to see win the acclaim it deserves. Johan Löfstedt the director and Patrick Axen the producer are really cool Swedish guys who are definitely going places.
And of course the Passing Hearts team, Mikael Flodell and Johan Brisinger were totally fun to talk to and have what it takes to make it big. I guess they have to share the glory this time (right guys? wink wink.) as they've racked up ten awards already!
But I'm really happy for Rúnar Rúnarsson and Grímur Hákonarsson (The Last Farm - Best Short, and The Last Words of Hreggviður - Canal+, respectively) local boys who've done good. Proud to know them. Proud for Iceland.
So tonight I'll sleep well and wake late. Sounds verrrry nice.
Góða Nótt, Reykjavík, Góða Nótt.
Compliance
Hlemmur
This is Hlemmur, the bus terminal on the east end of Laugarvegur, the main shopping street. It looks a little spare and grey and cold, doesn't it? Contrast this with the last photo of flowers, statues and happy kids and you have a clear image of the Other Side of Reykjavik.Yep, our pretty little city has an underbelly, just like any city, and it's centered around this bus terminal. The neglected and run-down and addicted gather here to support one another and to feel connected to some kind of hub.
When I was 19 in Santa Cruz, California, I used to hang out with the punks on the south end of the Pacific Garden Mall, just by the bus terminal. The hippies owned the north end, and our worlds never really intersected. We'd hang out all day, with the exception of going to work (for those few of us that had jobs). Some of the kids would panhandle for change for a community pack of smokes or for a case of cheap beer. Though a lot of us were just slummin' it, being from good families, there were plenty of kids who had no homes and nothing to tie them to the world. Our spot on the Mall gave them a center, a home base, and a sense of identity. There was some kind of importance to hanging out all day, and an almost romantic feeling of community. We helped each other when we could and when we couldn't, we relied on the kindness of strangers.
Hlemmur gives the same sense of community to Reykjavik's population of misfits and street people. I respect that. But it still makes me uncomfortable to stay too long in this part of town. It's only a ten minute walk from my apartment, but it seems light years away.
Moral of the story: this isn't the best chunk of Reykjavik to stay in. Or if you like to get a broader sense of the culture of a foreign country, maybe it is.
Hallargarður
This is another photo of Valentina, and of course she's super cute. But I just wanted to show how well-cared for Reykjavik is, how beautiful the parks and gardens are tended. At the beginning of every summer, teenagers who get jobs with the city work program grab their shovels and spades and plant thousands and thousands of lovely flowers all over. Even if you end up coming to Reykjavik when it's a little rainy or overcast, the city gardens and parks still glow.
This statue and garden are on Fríkirkjuvegur, which runs above the city lake, and everyone is welcome to enjoy it.
Business
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| A random photo of tourists in lupin at Geysir |
Elementary school teachers are going on strike on Monday, so 43,000 Icelandic kids between ages 6 and 15 will be out on the streets starting next week. Thank god I can work from home, but what about the parents who have to show up at the office? The teacher's union is not happy with companies that are offering daycare for their employees during the strike, so this is a major issue for everyone. The country could very well be hobbled, which is, of course, the purpose of a strike.
More later...
Beach
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| Djúpalónssandur on Snæfellsnes |
I really like this picture. Valentina and I went to this beach, named Djúpalónssandur, on our big camping trip in July. The whole beach is made up of small, smooth, shiny, black pebbles. The stones break off of the cliffs that back the beach, and are first raw and sharp and unremarkable. As you walk toward the water you see that the stones are more and more worn by the constant tides until, just at the ocean's edge, they are like perfect marbles.
The beach is on the western tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, under the mystical Snæfellsjökull glacier. For friend-of-Iceland Jules Verne, the cone mountain underneath the glacier was the portal to the center of the Earth. For countless spiritualists it is one of the world's foremost energy spots. For most it rivals Mount Fuji in symmetry and beauty. For Valentina and I it was the perfect backdrop to a wonderful day on the beach.
Valentina
Here is a photo of my very pretty girl Valentina. This was taken in my parent's backyard in Cupertino last summer when she was six years old. But don't be fooled by the angelic aspect. She's also as much a little viking as a person can be!
Ship in port
After a while I realized the street was teeming with tourists who seemed to be regarding us with curiosity and interest. I think they thought our little tableau charming, quaint, as if they were getting a glimpse into the true behavior of the indiginous peoples of Iceland. I liked posing like that for them, giving something to smile about.
But why were there so many of them? We usually get a lot of traffic on Baldursgata, our street, because of Þrír Frakkar ('Three Frenchmen'), a popular and cozy seafood restaurant on the corner at Nonnagata. But this was way beyond average.
Later that day I talked to a taxi driver who told me that the largest cruise ship ever to have docked in Reykjavík was in port (not the ship pictured), and that thousands of day tourists had debarked to explore the city. He told me that it was, I think, the 69th ship to dock here this year! And every year the numbers are rising. The taxi driver had been hired for half the day to take a couple from the ship all around the Reykjanes peninsula, a 30,000 kronur trip which they paid for with ease. Cruise ships were, in his opinion, a very good thing!
History
Today is history day. But don't worry, no lectures on how those crazy Norwegians got on a dragon-prowed boat and rowed to this little island in the North Atlantic. Instead, I'm just going to mention that the National Museum of Iceland has re-opened after six years, to everyone's relief. Talk about going over deadline...but it's supposed to be a beautiful exhibit of Icelandic heritage and history, so when you come to visit be sure to go there. Also, don't miss out on what my girlfriend Helga calls one of Reykjavík's best kept secrets: The Culture House. Super old manuscripts on vellum are kept there in climate-controlled cases, and I have to admit that I got shivers when I saw them (thought that might be because I'm all into books and stuff). It was like history was radiating from the pages, and like the almost legible scrawl was whispering to me. Helga worked there this summer and says that when visitors fathomed that modern Icelanders could actually read these ancient texts they were blown away. Granted, the script is very complicated to decipher, but the language itself has barely changed at all. As a matter fo fact, I think everyone, especially locals, should go spend some time considering these volumes.
Lastly, I'd like to recommend Eiriksstaðir, a reproduction of the homestead of Eirikur Rauði, or Erik the Red, and birthplace of Leifur Eiriksson, aka Leif Erikson, Discoverer of America. It's a few hours' drive from Reykjavík, but my daughter and I really liked it because you get to touch and play with all the replicas they have in the longhouse. A guide even makes flatbread right before your eyes over an open hearth fire. Then she lets you eat it! You can cut off a chunk of smoked leg of lamb by yourself and gnaw on it at your leisure. Very interactive and wortht the trip. I've linked someone's travelogue about the place so you can read more.