Martin Regal

How do you like Iceland? is a documentary about foreigners' perception of Icelanders. The film is mainly based on interviews with 37 foreigners from 9 countries who come from the world of art, sport, business and politics. Many humorous questions and interesting topics arise when the Icelandic nation is examined through the eye of the foreigner: Do foreigners think of Reykjavík as Bangkok of the north? Are the Icelanders an isolated and inbred nation? Or rather special and like no other? Is Icelandic inventiveness fit for export? Is the "pure and unspoiled" nation itself environmentally friendly?

A filmmaker joins a group of expert kayakers on a kayaking trip in the ice filled fiords of East Greenland. The group visit a remote inuit village, giving an insight into the habits of people in a magnificent country where, fonunately, the pace and stress of the Western world is still absent.

Water is one of the most amazing substances on earth. It contradicts almost all of the rules of physics and chemistry. For instance, it has the unique characteristic of expanding and growing lighter when it becomes solid. All other substances grow heavier upon turning solid and contract as the temperature decreases. This is what causes ice to float on top of water, instead of collecting on the bottom, which makes all the difference for aquatic life and in fact for all life on earth. In addition, water has the highest specific heat of any substance, which makes it a superb heat reservoir and heat equaliser. Without water, the earth would be a desert because of fluctuations in heat.

Hrafn Gunnlaugsson who put the Icelandic film industry on the world map in the seventies with films set in modern Iceland and the Viking age - here takes on the documentary form in a way only a feature film director could. Giving his imagination full scope, the director creates image of an alternative future - presents a diffrent view of the capital, Reykjavik, and questions accepted ideas about his country, Iceland.

There once was a girl named Anna Young. One day, her family is waiting for their perfect daughter to arrive at the breakfast table and kiss them good morning as always. But this morning Anna wakes up with a horrible illness. She looks like a sad version of Marilyn Manson and is terribly moody. Not realizing what is “wrong” with their daughter, Anna’s parents decide to take her to Dr. Artmanns’ clinic for kids with behavioural problems. In his analysis of Anna, Dr. Artmann uses a huge labyrinth where Anna is exposed to various tasks. The only way out of the maze for Anna is to complete her tasks in the right manners. But the right way is not necessarily what the parents think to be the right one.

The Chicken Commander is a unique film about a few Icelandic civilians, from a country that has no military, suddenly bearing arms at garrison KAIA (Kabul Airport). At the centre is the garrison commander Halli, who was transformed from an air-traffic controller in Reykjavik to a high ranking officer in a NATO army. The commander gave unprecedented and uncensored access to his garrison and the close to 2000 multinational troops stationed in the war torn country of Afghanistan. Through the often naïve eyes of the Icelandic men we experience the environment, both inside the camp and outside and get to know their emotions and sometimes humorous vision towards their own experience.