Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Birth : 1954-05-12, Reykjavík, Iceland

History

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson (born 12 May 1954; pronounced [ˈfrɪðrɪk ˈθouːr ˈfrɪðrɪxsɔn]), sometimes credited as Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, is an Icelandic film director and producer. Fridriksson started his film making career with experimental films and documentaries in the early 1980s. In 1987, he founded The Icelandic Film Corporation that became Iceland's most important film production company. The company produces his films and works with other Icelandic directors as well as producers. His international reputation led the company to build a network of internationally well-established co-production partner companies, including Lars von Trier's Zentropa and Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope.

Profile

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Movies

Grand marin
Lili has left everything behind to travel to the edge of the earth and accomplish her dream, fishing the Northern seas. She persuades Ian, the captain of a trawler by the name of Rebel, to give her a chance and let her join the crew. The only woman on board, they call her Sparrow. Hidden behind a frail appearance is a will of steel, and her courage and determination ultimately win over their respect. Adopted into this world of often unfortunate individuals, Lili will conquer her right to live differently, free. Debut film.
Mihkel
Producer
Mihkel boards a ferry from his small town in Estonia to Saint Petersburg in Russia, on his way to Iceland, where he wants to make a new life for himself and his fiancée, Vera. His friend Igor, who emigrated to Iceland a few years earlier, convinces Mihkel to smuggle two bottles of liquid amphetamine and then seek payment from an 
Estonian priest, who is a business partner of Igor’s in Saint Petersburg. The priest is then to set him up in his new home and bring Vera over to join him. Rather than getting paid, he is instead coerced into swallowing seventy drug capsules to take on to Iceland. He arrives in Iceland and is picked up by Igor and his two Icelandic accomplices, Jóhann and Bóbó. However, in the next two days it becomes clear that something is wrong and Mihkel cannot pass the drugs. The Icelandic criminals become very nervous, and more and more frantic activity ensues as the situation becomes more serious.
Rúnturinn I
Producer
Rúnturinn, is a documentary in the purest sense of the word and yet at the same time it explores the limits of this field. The film stock had lain dormant since 1999 until it was taken to the editing room and finished in 2016. Rúnturinn 1 was filmed in three towns; Akranes, Keflavík and Blönduósi in the summer of 1999. It focuses on the youth culture of these towns and specifically the activity of “runturinn” and the rituals related to these weekend drives through the streets.This is an independent documentary that is also the first part of a trilogy. We meet the young people on the “rúntur” on Friday and Saturday nights and listen to their stories and examine the culture of “rúnturinn” in depth.
Sjóndeildarhringur
Director
Oscar-nominated director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson and co-director Bergur Bernburg helm this lovely documentary portrait of influential Icelandic landscape painter Georg Gudni.
In Search of Livingstone
Producer
Thor and Denni's desperate search for tobacco along the south coast of Iceland during a shortage due to a prolonged strike in the country.
Of Horses and Men
Producer
A country romance about the human streak in the horse and the horse in the human. Love and death become interlaced and with terrible consequences. The fortunes of the people in the country through the horses' perception.
60 Sekundit Üksindust Aastal Null
Director
An anthology of one-minute films created by 60 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.
Little Cosmonaut
Producer
A short film about a young boy's escape from reality, the search for love and security, about cryptic messages from outer space and an invisible friend in the cellar. Based on the director's own memories, this is the story of a young boy's world filled with fantasies and dreams of distant worlds. His eccentric grandmother is his best friend and his partner in the world of the imagination.
Mamma Gógó
Writer
This film is about an elderly lady (Gogo) who is diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. It looks at her son and her family's reaction to her illness.
Mamma Gógó
Director
This film is about an elderly lady (Gogo) who is diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. It looks at her son and her family's reaction to her illness.
Sólskinsdrengurinn
Director
A Mother's Courage (aka The Sunshine Boy) is a moving, compassionate portrayal of a mother's desperate quest to understand the perplexing condition that controls her son. A journey through different countries, where every stop-over opens a new path into the depths of autism - and places her son in a strikingly different perspective as it reaches the end.
The Boss of It All
Finnur
An IT company hires an actor to serve as the company's president in order to help the business get sold to a cranky Icelander.
Guy X
Co-Producer
A black comedy set in 1979, about a soldier mistakenly posted to an Arctic military base.
Cold Light
Producer
What could be better than knowing your future? And what could be worse? A love-filled childhood abruptly ends when catastrophe descends. A catastrophe that the child had foreseen yet failed to act upon.
Niceland (Population. 1.000.002)
Director
Jet lives a joyful life working at a factory with his girlfriend who he's deeply in love with. Shortly after they decide to get married and live together happily ever after her cat, who she has a weird affection for, dies. The girlfriend falls into depression which could (strangely enough) lead to her death and the only way to give her a purpose to live and save her is to tell her the meaning of life.
Investigation Into the Invisible World
A feature length documentary shot in Iceland on mediums and the relationship between humans and invisible beings such as elves ghosts, angels, water monsters and extra-terrestrials. The film is a journey to the frontiers of life questioning the scope of our existence. Are we alone in the universe? If life exists in other dimensions, it's worth knowing more.
Fálkar
Producer
Simon a mysterious man with a past returns to Iceland with the intention to end his no good life. Before he can complete his task he meets a young women DÚA who he believes might be his daughter. When she gets into trouble with the police Simon represses his death wish and decides to help her out. Together they flee to the city of Hamburg and smuggle with them what used to be the greatest export of the Vikings, an Icelandic Falcon. Their plan is to sell it to wealthy Arabs.
Fálkar
Writer
Simon a mysterious man with a past returns to Iceland with the intention to end his no good life. Before he can complete his task he meets a young women DÚA who he believes might be his daughter. When she gets into trouble with the police Simon represses his death wish and decides to help her out. Together they flee to the city of Hamburg and smuggle with them what used to be the greatest export of the Vikings, an Icelandic Falcon. Their plan is to sell it to wealthy Arabs.
Fálkar
Director
Simon a mysterious man with a past returns to Iceland with the intention to end his no good life. Before he can complete his task he meets a young women DÚA who he believes might be his daughter. When she gets into trouble with the police Simon represses his death wish and decides to help her out. Together they flee to the city of Hamburg and smuggle with them what used to be the greatest export of the Vikings, an Icelandic Falcon. Their plan is to sell it to wealthy Arabs.
On Top Down Under
Screenplay
On Top - Iceland, a lighthouse, a cold winter evening. Her thoughts drift back to that summer ... to bathing in the hot springs ... to when they first met ... and embraced. Down Under - Australia, the desert, a blistering heat wave. His pickup stops at an icehouse ... he lays the blocks neatly on the buckboard ... and drives off haunted by a aching memory. Without dialogue or comment, save for verses from a sonnet by John Keats, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson links the thoughts, the emotions, the sensual longing of young lovers at opposite ends of the world. A tone poem, a collage of sight and sound.
On Top Down Under
Director
On Top - Iceland, a lighthouse, a cold winter evening. Her thoughts drift back to that summer ... to bathing in the hot springs ... to when they first met ... and embraced. Down Under - Australia, the desert, a blistering heat wave. His pickup stops at an icehouse ... he lays the blocks neatly on the buckboard ... and drives off haunted by a aching memory. Without dialogue or comment, save for verses from a sonnet by John Keats, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson links the thoughts, the emotions, the sensual longing of young lovers at opposite ends of the world. A tone poem, a collage of sight and sound.
Crossroads
Producer
Within the walls of the hospital, the duo develops a strong visceral relationship that eventually takes them to an unknown emotional territory bouncing them between supposed fantasy and the vicious reality of life.
No Such Thing
Producer
Beatrice's fiancé is killed by a monster in Iceland. The monster is immortal, but longs to die. Beatrice helps him achieve this by contacting a scientist who can destroy matter painlessly.
Óskabörn þjóðarinnar
Writer
Óskabörn þjóðarinnar
Dancer in the Dark
Producer
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life's troubles - even if just for a moment - by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
ERRÓ - North - South - East - West
Producer
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.
Ikingut
Executive Producer
In the middle ages a small Greenlandic boy comes drifting with an Iceberg to a remote and superstitious settlement in Iceland and is believed to be an evil spirit by his looks. He saves a young boy from an avalanche and they become friends. The young Icelandic boy has to fight for his friends existence against the ignorant villagers, who want him imprisoned or even killed
Angels of the Universe
Producer
The story of an Icelandic man and his slow descent into madness. Along his journey he meets Dagný, the initial cause of his breakdown. Other people he meets in the asylum have been committed for various reasons, such as signing cheques for Adolf Hitler and, believing themselves to be writing songs for the Beatles and telepathically transmitting to the band.
Angels of the Universe
Director
The story of an Icelandic man and his slow descent into madness. Along his journey he meets Dagný, the initial cause of his breakdown. Other people he meets in the asylum have been committed for various reasons, such as signing cheques for Adolf Hitler and, believing themselves to be writing songs for the Beatles and telepathically transmitting to the band.
Myrkrahöfðinginn
Producer
The young and fanatical Jon is appointed pastor to a remote church in 15th century Iceland. As is custom, he marries the widow of his predecessor, a woman much older than he is. He is ardent in his fight against Satan, and the villagers don't dare to question his authority. When he falls for a beautiful young woman, Jon is convinced witchcraft is at work, and his crusade leads to cruel executions of innocent people. The stronger his lust, the deeper his madness drives him in his religious fervor.
Sweety Barrett
Co-Producer
Sweety Barrett is a giant of a man with the mind of a child. An easy target in a corrupt world, Sweety becomes embroiled in a smuggling operation unleashing a spiral of dangerous and unexpected events.
The Split
Producer
Sol Jensen, a young Icelandic woman, and Halil Atesh, originally from the countryside in Turkey, meet in Reykjavik and fall passionately in love. Ten years later, Halil becomes an established businessman, while Sol runs a beauty parlor. Their two daughters, Leila and Aysiia, attend a Catholic school despite Halil's Muslim background and much to his grief. The split between him and Sol increases with the growing up of their daughters in a culture that is not his.
Wildside
Producer
Charming desperado Ossy, carrying a deadly secret, tracks down his childhood pal Jimmy in Iceland. But Jimmy, now with a family and a regular job, will do anything to hide his past.
Slurpinn & Co.
Co-Producer
No plot found
Sweet Track
Producer
In search of kicks in Reykjavik in the year 2000, a pretty teenager, Stella, teams up with a handsome alcoholic, Robbi, and in a stolen car careers through Iceland with unexpected and bizarre consequences.
Underwater Iceland
Producer
Marko Röhr's film crew takes the viewer to Europe's last unexplored area: Iceland's unique underwater world. We explore the geysers of boiling waters and the crystal clear lakes off the coast of Iceland. We dive under the icebergs, into the tears between the continental plates and into the deep caves.
Devil's Island
Producer
Devil's Island is a bitter sweet tale of Iceland in the fifties. Life is rough in Reykjavik's post-war slum of Camp Thule, where the abandoned US military barracks have been turned into makeshift homes. Struggling wives and their hard-working husbands try to make ends meet. The younger generation dreams of dollars, Rock'n'Roll and the American way of life. To celebrate or to drown their misery - they're never short of a good reason to booze. Devil's Island vividly depicts the everyday life of a wacky family, their neighbours and friends and shows how some of their dreams come true and others don't.
Devil's Island
Director
Devil's Island is a bitter sweet tale of Iceland in the fifties. Life is rough in Reykjavik's post-war slum of Camp Thule, where the abandoned US military barracks have been turned into makeshift homes. Struggling wives and their hard-working husbands try to make ends meet. The younger generation dreams of dollars, Rock'n'Roll and the American way of life. To celebrate or to drown their misery - they're never short of a good reason to booze. Devil's Island vividly depicts the everyday life of a wacky family, their neighbours and friends and shows how some of their dreams come true and others don't.
I Am Curious, Film
Self
The Scandinavian entry in the BFI's Century of Cinema series of documentaries
Einkalíf
Producer
Alexander, a twenty-year-old student, his girlfriend and a schoolmate discover the ins and outs of film-making while shooting a documentary about his family. A gallery of humorous, off-beat characters is revealed, who's seemingly ordinary lives conceal bitter divorces, passionate second marriages, vengeance, luck and misfortune, crime and punishment.
Cold Fever
Director
A Japanese businessman travels to Iceland and has a series of misadventures while venturing to a remote area to perform a traditional burial ritual where his parents died several years back.
Cold Fever
Screenplay
A Japanese businessman travels to Iceland and has a series of misadventures while venturing to a remote area to perform a traditional burial ritual where his parents died several years back.
Movie Days
Writer
This Icelandic tale, loosely based on the real-life experiences of director Fridrik Fridriksson tells the saga of a boyhood spent in Iceland in the 1960s.
Movie Days
Director
This Icelandic tale, loosely based on the real-life experiences of director Fridrik Fridriksson tells the saga of a boyhood spent in Iceland in the 1960s.
Children of Nature
Taxi Driver
An elderly couple leave their retirement home to make one last journey back to their home in the Western Fjords.
Children of Nature
Producer
An elderly couple leave their retirement home to make one last journey back to their home in the Western Fjords.
Children of Nature
Screenplay
An elderly couple leave their retirement home to make one last journey back to their home in the Western Fjords.
Children of Nature
Director
An elderly couple leave their retirement home to make one last journey back to their home in the Western Fjords.
Pretty Angels
Director
No plot found
Flugþrá
Screenplay
No plot found
Flugþrá
Director
No plot found
White Whales
Screenplay
A whale-boat is making its final whaling tour of the season. It pursues and catches a whale, and then proceeds home. The men working on the boat have to find themselves different employment now that the season is over. Among the crew are two friends, Grímur and Bubbi. They are well- seasoned and experienced seamen of the kind that never puts down roots anywhere. Grímur is not the kind of man to allow much to set him off balance. When he arrives on land he heads directly for the capital where he intends to make a new start and get himself involved in the night life. With him is his faithful and rather troll-like companion, Bubbi. The film then mainly concerns itself with their efforts to make some kind of contact with what is going on in Reykjavik.
White Whales
Producer
A whale-boat is making its final whaling tour of the season. It pursues and catches a whale, and then proceeds home. The men working on the boat have to find themselves different employment now that the season is over. Among the crew are two friends, Grímur and Bubbi. They are well- seasoned and experienced seamen of the kind that never puts down roots anywhere. Grímur is not the kind of man to allow much to set him off balance. When he arrives on land he heads directly for the capital where he intends to make a new start and get himself involved in the night life. With him is his faithful and rather troll-like companion, Bubbi. The film then mainly concerns itself with their efforts to make some kind of contact with what is going on in Reykjavik.
White Whales
Director
A whale-boat is making its final whaling tour of the season. It pursues and catches a whale, and then proceeds home. The men working on the boat have to find themselves different employment now that the season is over. Among the crew are two friends, Grímur and Bubbi. They are well- seasoned and experienced seamen of the kind that never puts down roots anywhere. Grímur is not the kind of man to allow much to set him off balance. When he arrives on land he heads directly for the capital where he intends to make a new start and get himself involved in the night life. With him is his faithful and rather troll-like companion, Bubbi. The film then mainly concerns itself with their efforts to make some kind of contact with what is going on in Reykjavik.
The Ring Road
Writer
Experimental film of a trip around Iceland, filmed on the circular highway with a wide angle lens camera registering one frame every 12 seconds.
The Ring Road
Director
Experimental film of a trip around Iceland, filmed on the circular highway with a wide angle lens camera registering one frame every 12 seconds.
Icelandic Cowboys
Producer
In the summer of 1984, Iceland's king of country music, Hallbjörn Hjartarson, arranged the first and only Icelandic cowboy-festival. This celebration of western culture took place in Skagaströnd, a village of 700 inhabitants in the north of Iceland, and was attended by Iceland's leading country singers. This documentary describes, in an objective fashion, the general atmosphere of the festival and gives a portrait of the star of the show, Hallbjörn Hjartarson and his views on life and stardom.
Icelandic Cowboys
Director of Photography
In the summer of 1984, Iceland's king of country music, Hallbjörn Hjartarson, arranged the first and only Icelandic cowboy-festival. This celebration of western culture took place in Skagaströnd, a village of 700 inhabitants in the north of Iceland, and was attended by Iceland's leading country singers. This documentary describes, in an objective fashion, the general atmosphere of the festival and gives a portrait of the star of the show, Hallbjörn Hjartarson and his views on life and stardom.
Icelandic Cowboys
Director
In the summer of 1984, Iceland's king of country music, Hallbjörn Hjartarson, arranged the first and only Icelandic cowboy-festival. This celebration of western culture took place in Skagaströnd, a village of 700 inhabitants in the north of Iceland, and was attended by Iceland's leading country singers. This documentary describes, in an objective fashion, the general atmosphere of the festival and gives a portrait of the star of the show, Hallbjörn Hjartarson and his views on life and stardom.
Rokk í Reykjavík
Producer
Rokk í Reykjavík (Rock in Reykjavik) gives a thorough overview of the powerful and expanding rock scene in Iceland. Most of the film consists of performances by a wide variety of rock-groups in various clubs in Reykjavik in 1981-82. There are also interviews with members of the groups representing different views on such features of the rock scene as sex, drugs and politics. 19 groups appear in the film.
Rokk í Reykjavík
Director
Rokk í Reykjavík (Rock in Reykjavik) gives a thorough overview of the powerful and expanding rock scene in Iceland. Most of the film consists of performances by a wide variety of rock-groups in various clubs in Reykjavik in 1981-82. There are also interviews with members of the groups representing different views on such features of the rock scene as sex, drugs and politics. 19 groups appear in the film.
The Saga of Burnt Njál
Director
A tale of how Njál, a character from the Icelandic Sagas, is burned at the stake.
Nomina Sunt Odiosa
Producer
Nomina Sunt Odiosa is Fridrik Thór Fridriksson’s first film. The title is in Latin and means names are not necessary even pointless. Maybe that was a statement from the director for future films to come. Scenes from a school graduation party mix with shots of soft-drink bottles a conveyor belt. Both the bottles and the students are alike, universal, unoriginal and, above all, nameless. The film was screened at a school anniversary in March 1975 and broadcast on the only television station a few months later.
Nomina Sunt Odiosa
Screenplay
Nomina Sunt Odiosa is Fridrik Thór Fridriksson’s first film. The title is in Latin and means names are not necessary even pointless. Maybe that was a statement from the director for future films to come. Scenes from a school graduation party mix with shots of soft-drink bottles a conveyor belt. Both the bottles and the students are alike, universal, unoriginal and, above all, nameless. The film was screened at a school anniversary in March 1975 and broadcast on the only television station a few months later.
Nomina Sunt Odiosa
Director
Nomina Sunt Odiosa is Fridrik Thór Fridriksson’s first film. The title is in Latin and means names are not necessary even pointless. Maybe that was a statement from the director for future films to come. Scenes from a school graduation party mix with shots of soft-drink bottles a conveyor belt. Both the bottles and the students are alike, universal, unoriginal and, above all, nameless. The film was screened at a school anniversary in March 1975 and broadcast on the only television station a few months later.
Loss
Producer
An old man comes home with the ashes of his dead wife in an urn. As he waits for the kettle to boil, the relentless hissing of boiling water brings to mind memories. There is nothing ahead for the old man, only lack of purpose, sense of loss and loneliness. He embarks on a journey.