Róska
Directing
Biography
Ragnhildur Óskarsdóttir (October 31, 1940 – March 13, 1996), better known by her pseudonym Roska, was an Icelandic artist, film director, communist, and feminist. She studied fine arts and film directing in Prague and Rome, Italy, where she lived for most of her life. One of her trademarks was her bright red lips, which appear in many of her films. She directed or co-directed films such as "L'impossibilità di recitare Elettra oggi" (1969), "The Ancient Folk-Tale of Ólafur Liljurós" (1977) and "Sóley" (1982) as well as seven documentaries about Iceland for Italian state television (RAI) in the 1970s. She was known for her radical political views, which were also clearly expressed in her work. She was a member of the Communist Youth Union and took part in a four-month sit-in strike at the Keflavík television studio in 1969, during which they sprayed paint on the camera lenses. In Rome, she was actively involved in left-wing and anarchist groups and, among other things, in 1968, together with her husband Manrico Pavolettoni, participated in a four-month sit-in strike in the small town of Fabrico near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy.
Known For
The story of Sóley is about freedom and oppression. Set in Iceland in the dark eighteenth-century, it relates the adventures of a young farmer whose horses - symbols of his independence - are missing. In his search for the horses and his freedom, he journeys across the uninhabited wastelands of the mountainous interior of the country. Here he encounters the legendary figures of folk tradition. The elf-maiden, Sóley, accompanies him on his way across the highlands. She is the incarnation of the dreams woven by the farmers of Iceland, poverty stricken and oppressed - dreams of a better and more humane way of life, envisaged as the lot of supernatural beings, concealed in the harsh, dramatic landscape of Iceland.
Sóley
An avant-garde theater troupe based in one of the provinces of Emilia is attempting to involve the residents of the small town of Fabrico in a production of Sophocles’ "Electra". However, it soon becomes clear just how difficult this task is, given the group’s persistent collective desire to "question everything."
The Impossibility of Reciting Electra Today
Drama shot. Based on the authors' personal reflections on the ancient folk-tale of Ólafur Liljurós.