Jóhann Jóhannsson

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Iceland, July 9, 2016. The surprising discovery of a canister —containing four reels of The Village Detective (Деревенский детектив), a 1969 Soviet film—, caught in the nets of an Icelandic trawler, is the first step in a fascinating journey through the artistic life of film and stage actor Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (1899-1981), icon and star of an entire era of Russian cinema.

On May 25th, 2020, Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, murdered George Floyd, a black man, by driving his knee into George's neck for 8 minutes and 45 seconds until he died. This film chronicles New York City's overwhelming response.

As the end approaches inexorably, the last humans, living millions of years into the future, send a message to the humanity of the present that is both a plea for help and a warning, but also an epic tale of evolution, decline and hope.

As the end approaches inexorably, the last humans, living millions of years into the future, send a message to the humanity of the present that is both a plea for help and a warning, but also an epic tale of evolution, decline and hope.

As the end approaches inexorably, the last humans, living millions of years into the future, send a message to the humanity of the present that is both a plea for help and a warning, but also an epic tale of evolution, decline and hope.

As the end approaches inexorably, the last humans, living millions of years into the future, send a message to the humanity of the present that is both a plea for help and a warning, but also an epic tale of evolution, decline and hope.

Tang Yijie, the Construction Committee Director, falls off from rooftop and dies in a demolition riot. Yang Jiadong, a young police officer starts his investigation and finds that Tang's death is tied up with another case several years ago. Soon he is framed and suspended from duty, but he never gives up. The film unfolds how individuals and family make fortune in the past 30 years since the reform in China began.

The Shadow Mountains, 1983. Red and Mandy lead a loving and peaceful existence; but when their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.

The Shadow Mountains, 1983. Red and Mandy lead a loving and peaceful existence; but when their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.

In the first century, free-spirited Mary Magdalene flees the marriage her family has arranged for her, finding refuge and a sense of purpose in a radical new movement led by the charismatic, rabble-rousing preacher named Jesus.

Jacques Mayano, a French journalist who has lived a traumatic experience, is recruited by the Vatican to be part of a task force that must investigate the veracity of a supernatural apparition allegedly happened in a small French village.

In 1968, Donald Crowhurst, an amateur sailor, endangers the fate of his family and business, and his own life, blinded by his ambition to compete in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, attempting to become the first person in history to single-handedly circumnavigate the world without making any stopover.

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.

Neglected by her husband, Sarah embarks on an impromptu road trip with her young daughter and her best friend, Mindy. Along the way, the dynamic between the two friends intensifies before circumstances force them apart. Years later, Sarah attempts to rebuild their intimate connection in the days before Mindy’s wedding.

This piece offers a fascinating discussion of how the music was made and why it compliments the story and tone.

“A Song for Europa’ is one of the key tracks from Jóhann Jóhannsson’s release ‘Orphée’ on Deutsche Grammophon. Typically for Johann, the work is a beautifully atmospheric composition, one that immerses the listener into the strange recordings of the ‘Numbers Stations’: a category of shortwave radio station broadcasts characterized by readings of number lists, letters and coded messages from a forgotten era. It is to these lost, lonely voices that Johan has turned, capturing the enigmatic transmission of encoded information to persons elsewhere, and reflecting them back within a new context. In response, Studio AKA director Gergely Wootsch has created a considered and thoughtful animated film, which crosses literal boundaries and thresholds as it drifts along a desolate cold war landscape, following the haunting voice as it searches for a listener.

“A Song for Europa’ is one of the key tracks from Jóhann Jóhannsson’s release ‘Orphée’ on Deutsche Grammophon. Typically for Johann, the work is a beautifully atmospheric composition, one that immerses the listener into the strange recordings of the ‘Numbers Stations’: a category of shortwave radio station broadcasts characterized by readings of number lists, letters and coded messages from a forgotten era. It is to these lost, lonely voices that Johan has turned, capturing the enigmatic transmission of encoded information to persons elsewhere, and reflecting them back within a new context. In response, Studio AKA director Gergely Wootsch has created a considered and thoughtful animated film, which crosses literal boundaries and thresholds as it drifts along a desolate cold war landscape, following the haunting voice as it searches for a listener.

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

Reda is 26 years old. His dreams of escaping the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain El-Helweh ended in failure after three years trapped in Greece. He returned with a heroin addiction to life in a camp being torn apart by internal strife and the encroachment of war from Syria. Against all odds, he decides to marry his childhood sweetheart; a love story, bittersweet as the camp itself.

An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Successful businesswoman Maria has achieved everything except what she wants the most - a baby of her own. She decides to deal with the matter by herself and embarks on a desperate and dangerous journey in order to make her dream come true.

The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde.

The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde.

A story about a common man that arose to the level of a national treasure through his storytelling and other incredible endeavors. A man that did not compromise any of his dreams, hopes and visions in a rapidly changing world, but kept true to his ways and the philosophy that he received directly from past ages.

A hypnotic and slow-burning journey through the austere landscapes of the island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Shot on black and white super 8 film as a series of mostly static tableaux over a period of 20 days during the waning days of the Antarctic Summer, the film is a startling look at life at the edge of the world.

A hypnotic and slow-burning journey through the austere landscapes of the island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Shot on black and white super 8 film as a series of mostly static tableaux over a period of 20 days during the waning days of the Antarctic Summer, the film is a startling look at life at the edge of the world.

A hypnotic and slow-burning journey through the austere landscapes of the island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Shot on black and white super 8 film as a series of mostly static tableaux over a period of 20 days during the waning days of the Antarctic Summer, the film is a startling look at life at the edge of the world.

A hypnotic and slow-burning journey through the austere landscapes of the island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Shot on black and white super 8 film as a series of mostly static tableaux over a period of 20 days during the waning days of the Antarctic Summer, the film is a startling look at life at the edge of the world.

A hypnotic and slow-burning journey through the austere landscapes of the island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Shot on black and white super 8 film as a series of mostly static tableaux over a period of 20 days during the waning days of the Antarctic Summer, the film is a startling look at life at the edge of the world.

A hypnotic and slow-burning journey through the austere landscapes of the island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Shot on black and white super 8 film as a series of mostly static tableaux over a period of 20 days during the waning days of the Antarctic Summer, the film is a startling look at life at the edge of the world.

A hypnotic and slow-burning journey through the austere landscapes of the island of South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Shot on black and white super 8 film as a series of mostly static tableaux over a period of 20 days during the waning days of the Antarctic Summer, the film is a startling look at life at the edge of the world.

A drama centered on the employees of a Nanjing massage parlor who share a common trait: they are all blind.

Keller Dover is facing a parent’s worst nightmare: his young daughter and her friend have gone missing. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki arrests the only suspect – the driver of an RV on which the girls had been playing – but a lack of evidence forces his release. As pressure mounts, Loki’s team pursues multiple leads while a frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Shida is the new kid in class in a private boarding school in Tanzania. He is shy, he has no self-esteem, he does not speak one word of English - the primary language in the school, and he suffers from albinism. Like most children with albinism in the country Shida was taken away from his parents to be protected from the witchcraft related killings. The film follows Shida during his first year at the new school where the rules are strict and tolerance low. He is trying his best to meet the demands. The school is a chance of an education and to escape a life on the bottom of society. With the help from his new friend Allan he is struggling to become better in school and to be accepted by the teachers and pupils.

A car full of irresponsible youths hit a woman on a rainy freeway and think she is trying an insurance scam.

The Pitch tells the story of Melavöllurinn, Reykjavík’s main sports arena and meeting place until the 70’s. The Pitch served as a melting pot of ideas for Iceland’s newly acquired independence in 1944 that brought back hope and prosperity in the years to come.

After an overnight long-distance drive, Joby has a special meeting—with lawyers and his ex-wife. A struggling musician with the prerequisite tattoos, slimy hair, goatee, and his head firmly floating in the clouds, Joby hasn’t been around to be a dad. Now is his last chance to fight for shared custody of his daughter, Ellen.

The Beckmanns used to have more money than they could spend. Now it's all gone. The mother now supports her daughter off a small pension as they share a small apartment in wealthy Cascais, Portugal. The daughter, now in her mid-50s, never needed a job until now; she assures herself that she deserves more from life. Filmmaker Eva Mulvad observes their attempts at making ends meet, their hopes for the future, their malicious confrontations.

Edwin the astronaut is alone on the SS Hamlet spacecraft when a leak suddenly threatens to suck out all the oxygen on board. Edwin insists he can fix the damage himself, but eventually everything looks pretty hopeless. Then suddenly ex-wife Sofia makes contact with him.

A Mexican science fiction film where the over-population problem has been solved by programming people to operate in either day or night, and not both.

The ill-fated coal mining communities in North East England are the subject of this inspired documentary by multi-media artist Bill Morrison. Their story is told entirely without words, yet the film is far from silent: it features a remarkable original score by the Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.

People in a room in an apartment in a house on a street in a city. "Dreams in Copenhagen" is Max Kestners's documentary film portrait of Denmark's capital. A film about the physical surroundings that are part of shaping our lives. About the buildings we wake up in, the front doors we walk out of, the streets we traverse. It is also a film about how the way we live our lives affect our physical surroundings. About places we dream of and the walls onto which we scratch the names our loved ones, before it is too late.

Walter is a rising star in the NCAA wrestling world until his life is ripped apart by the brutal murder of his sister. Returning home to console his mother Gloria he seeks vengeance on the man who is accused of the crime. A chance meeting with a beautiful mature woman gives him solace to the situation. Will this unlikely pairing bloom into a romance and heal a wound the world cannot see or will the loss of his sister push him over the edge?

Shot in back and white, the short film materializes in stark, melancholic images one of the key tracks from the album Fordlândia. "One of the two main threads running through it is this idea of failed utopia, as represented by the 'Fordlândia' title – the story of the rubber plantation Henry Ford established in the Amazon in 1920s, and his dreams of creating an idealized American town in the middle of the jungle complete with white picket fences, hamburgers and alcohol prohibition. The project – started because of the high price Ford had to pay for the rubber necessary for his cars' tyres – failed, of course, as the indigenous workers soon rioted against the alien conditions." - from the website of Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Adapted and directed by Marc Craste, Varmints is a 24-minute film based on the award-winning book of the same name by Helen Ward and illustrated by Craste, that tells the story of one small creature's struggle to preserve a world in danger of being lost forever through recklessness and indifference. A crew of 35 people worked in three countries over a two year period to make the film, and an original score by Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson and sound design by Adrian Rhodes complete the picture.

A love story about two gay wrestlers living in rural Iceland who must keep their relationship a secret from the inner world of Iceland's national and very macho sport.

Jakub and Vladimir, two brothers in their late teens, join in the Cossack army to flee poverty. Elias and Roman, two other brothers, on their own as well, steal horses to survive... When fate brings them together, the encounter proves lethal. Vladimir gets killed. Jakub now burning with anger, is obsessed with revenge. A wild track begins, no one will be left unharmed...

Sorrow does not come merely from contemplating death, which forces us to look into Eternity, but also from life, which compels us to confront Time", wrote Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyayev. Renowned Lithuanian documentarist Audrius Stonys took these words as a motto for his latest film, a meditative visual essay which portrays old people undertaking all kinds of activities, meditation and group laughter therapy. Without a single word of commentary, he creates from sophisticated, aesthetic images a compelling study of human corporeality which, in an ideal union with spiritual equilibrium, can sustain us with the pledge that old age doesn't have to be a painful wait for the last breath.

A Warren Comics style short portraying a stranded cosmonaut on Mars.

Pétur is an optometrist happily married to Ásta. They are expecting a child but already have a 10 year old boy named Örn. On coincidense Pétur finds out that he is not Örn's biological father.

A documentary about the bustling Icelandic musical scene. This documentary covers some of Iceland's most talented and well-known musicians.

A postal worker falls in love with the Chinese waitress at a Chinese restaurant. They start dating and quickly fall in and out of love, the waitress returning to China. The young man looks for comfort in his father but he's too preoccupied with winning the Eurovision song contest. After listening to loser friends talk about what Sylvester Stallone would do in his situation, the postal worker decides to buy a ticket to China and follow his love to her home.

A collage-like film that mixes interviews with painter Erró and his collaborators, family and friends with visuals of his paintings and extracts from experimental films made in the sixties with Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Carolee Scheemann, Christo, Matta and Adami. Also including many of the luminaries of twentieth century art, the film takes us from Paris and New York to the appropriately surrealistic landscapes of Erró's native Iceland.

An older couple, Sigga and Runni, reveal funeral photos of their long-dead son who died tragically young. After thirty years, the photos still elicit painful differences between a grieving mother and her stoic husband; Rúna a housewife living in the harsh and isolated west fjords keeps funeral photos of a terrible family tragedy. For Rúna, they mark a profound event which forever changed her and which belong side by side with photos of weddings, confirmations and baptisms; Erlendur and his stepdaughter Úlfhildur, after nursing his wife through a long battle with cancer, use photography to record her on her deathbed, in peace at last. And Sigrún, morbidly fascinated with funerals and wakes, compulsively videotapes acquaintances' family funerals as a bulwark against her own fear of death. When she experiences death first hand however, her attitudes change.