Hjörtur Howser

Movies

The Adventures of Paper Peter
Sound Designer
Follows the adventure of a group of kids and a paper boy named Peter. Plane ride, box car racing and bad neighbours are all included. Iceland's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990
The Football Kid
Music
Willy, seven years old, is more interested in books than sports while his father, ex-football star, is determined to make a football player out of him. Willy realizes that he cannot live up to his father's expectations but feels compelled to give him what he always wanted. One day, Willy finds a solution to the problem.
An Ancient Farm Site
Sound
Although the Icelandic Sagas contain many descriptions of stately homes, none of them stood the test of time. However, an archeological finding at Stöng in Thjórsárdal revealed the ruins of an ancient farm which had been preserved in ashes from the Mt. Hekla eruption in 1104. Knowledge from this finding and from literary sources were used to reconstruct in detail and Icelandic farmhouse from the 11th century. This film follows the project from the original designing stage in 1970 until the inauguration in 1977, showing the ancient techniques used to build houses from local building material such as turf, stone and wood.
Jurti
Sound
A story of the seasons and nature.
Jurti
Music
A story of the seasons and nature.
Hinir ómótstæðilegu
Comedy, philosophy, gunfights, music, and chases.
Frida's Journey
Music
An old woman, Frída, awaits her death in a country hospital. Every morning, a nurse moves her to a window at the end of a long corridor. One day, her mind drifts back to a day from her youth when she had to cross a large river on horseback.
The Floating, Fishing, Freezing Plant
Sound
A film about a new type of trawler which processes its catch on board. There is a great demand for fish which is processed with this method and many believe these vessels to be the future of deep sea fishing. This film is shot on board one of these trawlers, Hólmadrangur, and deals mainly with the processing of the fish below deck.
Iceland Whaling
Music
An important and stunning documentary on whales and modern whaling with historical and scientific background. Most of the footage was shot specifically for this film in the North Atlantic and there are some shots of whale behavior that have never been captured on film before. The film is a significant contribution to the debate on the whaling controversy.
International Falcon Smuggling
Music
The smugglers, who come from Europe and the United States of America, steal the eggs of the arctic gerfalcon and transport them in private planes to Germany. The young birds are then sold for $50,000 each, usually to wealthy Arabs. The white falcon is the biggest and strongest falcon in the world; tragically most of them die when exposed to the heat of the desert. The film investigates the methods of the smugglers and shows interviews with falcon dealers, policemen, animal protectors in Europe and America and includes authentic shots from a "falconbust" in Cologne, Germany.
Beyond the Limits
Music
A documentary about the miraculous survival of an Icelandic fisherman, after his boat sank off the shores of the Westman Islands in mid winter. All the crew drowned except one, Gudlaugur Fridthórsson, who swam five and a half kilometers in the ice cold sea and then walked barefoot over a field of sharp lava to reach help. Specialists have made tests on Gudlaugur to determine how he managed to survive seven times longer than any ordinary man under these conditions.