Heiðar Marteinsson

Beautiful documentary by Osvaldur Knudsen about the eruption on Heimaey in the Vestmann Islands in 1973 (South of Iceland). The eruption destroyed some 30% of the town's houses and lasted for more than 5 months. Nice narration like in the old days and some nice sound(track) by Magnus Bl. Johannsson.

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.

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.

This film shows three different methods for catching herrings which Icelanders have used in the past century. The use of the nets is illustrated with animated graphics and then matched with live action on board. Live footage is shot off the south and east coast of Iceland.

Fishing on board a modern stern trawler is the subject of this film. It is shot in the North Atlantic from 1979-1982, in all seasons and includes some sequences that are shot in extremely bad weather conditions in the winter of 1981. Different types of trawlers are shown and the landing of the catch in harbours in Iceland and Germany.

The film begins in the early hours of the morning of January 23rd 1973. A mile long fissure had ripped itself open on the outskirt of the fishing village on Heimaey, a small island of the Vestmannaeyjar group, off the South Coast of Iceland. Glowing ash and molten lava was spewed over the sleeping town. We see the evacuation of the 500 inhabitants, both by air and by sea. We witnes unbelievable scenes of bellowing craters, flowing lava, burning and collapsing buildings. We learn of the agony and uncertainty of people made homeless, and of the measures taken by the Civil Defence to deal with a disaster of an enormity rarely faced by so small a nation.

A film about a typical winter season on board an Icelandic fishing boat. The boat, Gunnar Jónsson, starts off from the Westman Islands and is at first mainly engaged in capelin fishing for fishmeal production. When January comes, the men start preparing for the traditional cod fishing period.

Shot on board a boat from the Westman Islands, this film covers a typical fishing trip. Follows the three-man crew of this small vessel at their work: hauling in the net, gathering up the catch of lobster from the decks, and stowing it away on ice in special barrels.

No description available.

The story of salvage operations in the wake of the 1973 Westman Island eruption. The 5.000 inhabitants were evacuated in a matter of hours as lava and ash destroyed a large part of the town. The fight with the encroaching lava; dramatic night shots of the erupting volcano; the massive clean-up task after the eruption. The town is once more Iceland's busiest fishing port.