Blackport (Verbúðin)

Origin and Year: Iceland, 2021	Director: Gísli Örn Garðarsson & Björn Hlynur Haraldsson
Runnning time: 2 x 50 min

Q&A’s after the screening with creator, writer, director, producer and co-star Gisli Örn Gardarsson and creator, producer and leading actress Nina Dögg Filippusdóttir.

The rough Icelandic comedy and political drama in one begins in 1983 when a measure that still affects the local fish market today was first introduced. After quotas were introduced, the “fish business” was split by the most successful fishermen of the time, whose businesses gradually grew to the size of today’s corporations. The miniseries, which has won several awards including the main prize at the French festival Series Mania, tells a story set in the early days of this policy with a Nordic sense of humour. The main characters, two of whom are played by the writers of the title themselves, represent the island’s emerging business system, which they describe with gusto in a way that we certainly do not know from chilly detective stories full of shots of spectacular nature.