Diskóeyjan
Disco Island
Made by Helluland 2020–2021
Alex Darri Birgisson · Soffía Kristín Jónsdóttir
Haukur Emil Kaaber · Gunnar Bersi Björnsson
Karítas Sif Bjarkadóttir
Director: Gabríel Elí Jóhannsson
Written by: Gabríel Elí Jóhannson & Úlfur E. Arnalds
Based on a story by: Bragi Valdimar Skúlason
Producers: Brynjar Leó Hreiðarsson, Camilla Hjördís Samúelsdóttir, Einar Karl Pétursson, Gabríel Elí Jóhannsson, Úlfur E. Arnalds
Cinematography: Úlfur E. Arnalds
Editor: Brynjar Leó Hreiðarsson
Sound: Einar Karl Pétursson
Costumes: Jenný María Jóhannsdóttir
When straight–A kids Daníel and Rut are sent to The Professor's refinement school they get to know real disco. But the reprehensible and stylish landlord The Ugly Man is planning to close the school forever, how can the gang stop him?
Festivals:
– Icelandic Student Film Festival 2021
[Sunday Audience Award]
– Icelandic Comedy Film Festival 2022
[Award Winner: Best Icelandic Short]
– Northern Wave International Film Festival 2022
By far the biggest and longest production I've been a key part of, it took about a year from the first draft of the script to its premiere which was a drastic change from the last couple of films we had done at that point. The filming was an insanely fun but challenging process, we were very lucky to be able to shoot with so many extras in between pandemic waves in the summer of 2020. Making a 30 min musical adaptation of a 10 year old children's CD with original dances and some actual production value was a surreally big undertaking for the bunch of teenagers we were but it ended up coming out alright and it was a minor hit at the time. For me what was most memorable was the hours of frustration over 7 months that came with editing and grading such a big project on the various slow pc's I could get my hands on, never again I said to myself.
- BLH, 2023