Great Britain -

03 May

How To Be Broke in London

Primrose Hill

One of the best things about this diverse city is how easy it is to find something to enjoy, even when you’re broke. Here are three of my favourites.

Gardens. – Over 60% of London is green. Strolling through the gorgeous gardens can make you forget about all the problems in the world.
Museums. – London has some of the best museums in the world, and most of them are free to visit unless you wish to see a special exhibition. Recently I had a splendid time at the Tate Modern, enjoying the art by the amazing Rebecca Horn, a pioneer in various fields.
Farmers’ Markets – Being a foodie and being broke is not the best combination. However, I know how to lessen the frustration of not being able to buy expensive ingredients for your cooking or dine in fine restaurants. Last weekend I tasted lots of lovely food and divine cheeses at one of the Farmers’ Markets. Managed to skip dinner that day and my taste buds were happy nonetheless!

Greetings from Pollyanna! 😀

Swiss Cottage Farmers' Market

06 Mar

mother It’s Mother’s Day in England and I’d like to use the opportunity to celebrate diversity. There are all kinds of mothers in this world and movies have fortunately portrayed them in various ways. When you look at lists of movies to watch on Mother’s Day, they often list films like Bambi, Aliens, Terminator, Steel Magnolias, Mamma Mia!, The Blind Side, Terms of Endearment, Juno, Beaches or Freaky Friday. Good films, but I’d personally like to add three to the mix.

All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre) – Pedro Amodóvar

The Mother – Roger Michell

Transamerica – Duncan Tucker

Happy Mother’s Day!

03 Mar

Hooked on Trapped

The Icelandic TV series Trapped has been well received in the UK. It’s the first Icelandic crime series shown on BBC Four, in the popular slot reserved for what the Brits call Nordic Noir. Last week I had the privilege to interview two TV critics about Trapped, Alison Graham from Radio Times and Caroline Frost from The Huffington Post. My cameraman, Ingimar Eydal, went with me to meet the ladies and the interviews were aired on the culture show Menning, aired on RUV (The National Icelandic Broadcasting Service).

UK reviews on Trapped:

Sam Wollaston, Guardian

Ceri Radford, The Telegraph

The Week

Trapped on Wikipedia

11 Feb

Keen Spring

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See those gorgeous Magnolias, blooming since early February in Primrose Hill. Meteorological spring doesn’t begin until the 1st of March, but they don’t care. Those pink flowers are a sight for sore eyes and make me happy. Like the Magnolias, I can’t wait for the lovely spring to come with its pastel colours and lovely scent. It’s my favourite time of the year in London.

Late February days; and now, at last,

Might you have thought that

Winter’s woe was past;

So fair the sky was and so soft the air.

– William Morris

27 Jan

A Minute with Mirren

12079780_10153090086422124_355767851808785471_o In October I was granted the honour of interviewing Dame Helen Mirren on the red carpet at the European premiere of TRUMBO, directed by Jay Roach. Bryan Cranston gave a cracking performance as Dalton Trumbo, the Hollywood screenwriter who was blacklisted after refusing to testify in the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1947. Mirren is great in the role of Hedda Hopper, the infamous and nasty gossip columnist.

Being one of the reporters on the carpet is sort of mad; desperately trying to get the movie stars to notice you and answer your questions. More than half of these reporters go home empty handed. Before I knew it, I was telling Helen Mirren that it was the first time Icelandic TV had a reporter on the red carpet for a film event of that scale. Her attention was caught, and I asked her whether she thinks films can influence people and send dangerous messages.

30 Nov

Snowblind

snowblind INDEPENDENT talks about the finest books of 2015 ‘to to fire the imagination, engage the grey matter and invigorate the spirit over the festive period’. I was happy to notice that amongst the 8 best crime books is the Icelandic novel Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson.

‘Icelander Ragnar Jónasson’s first novel in the UK is Snowblind (Orenda, £8.99, trans. Quentin Bates), drawing inspiration from both the Scandinavian tradition and the classic English crime novel. His subject is the corruption that stretches to the upper echelons of Icelandic politics.’

Snowblind is the first book in a series called Dark Iceland. It’s set in Northern-Iceland, mainly in and around the small town of Siglufjörður. HERE you can read an interesting interview with the author and here’s Ragnar’s Twitter account, where you can get to know him even better and find out how to get hold of his book.

10 Nov

Kissing in the Tunnel

Screen Shot 2015-11-10 at 12.06.32 The British Film Institute National Archive is brilliant and it’s possible to watch quite a lot of old films online. I’ve watched many precious clips from British film history, like this kiss from 1899. It’s the earliest film kiss held by the BFI National Archive.

‘This story derives from a popular magic lantern slide show and shows a couple in a railway carriage, going into a dark, Freudian tunnel, taking the opportunity to steal a kiss. As the train emerges into the light the couple move apart in a guilty fashion, and although scarcely enough to make your Victorian grandmother blush, it gives the scene its slight frisson of naughtiness. (Bryony Dixon)’

07 Nov

Björk Calls to Action!

Screen Shot 2015-11-07 at 15.13.37 Last week I wrote about David Cameron’s visit to Iceland and mentioned how worried I was about speculations of building a power cable from Iceland to provide the UK with energy. As much as I love living here, and wish this country all the best, I cherish the nature of my homeland more. These plans are dangerous. UK has already negotiated getting power from Norway as you can read in Guardian; ‘The UK and Norway are to build the world’s longest undersea interconnector – a method of linking up electricity and gas networks – to provide enough low-carbon energy for almost 750,000 British homes.’

The world famous musician Björk has for years been a spokesperson for keeping Icelandic nature untouched and now she has called to action. ‘Iceland has a deadline!’ she says.

Björk and Andri Snær Magnason, the prestigious writer and activist, held a press conference yesterday about ‘the latest skirmish in the war to protect Iceland’s highlands from industrialisation’. You can read more in Grapevine. They ask the world to join them against the government to help protecting the Icelandic wilderness. The deadline is in 10 days and if you want to help sign the petition HERE.

The news has already reached international media like BBC, Guardian and Pitchfork.

This is not the first time Björk calls to action, in 2008 she teamed up with Sigur Rós in a concert to raise awareness for Icelandic nature. I’ll never forget that magical day.

And here’s her song Náttúra (Nature)

We can only hope the world will listen this time!

http://heartoficeland.org/

https://www.facebook.com/gaetumgardsins/?fref=ts

http://www.framtidarlandid.is/en/natureiceland

27 Oct

An Icelandic Play in London

Moments+(17+of+30) MOMENTS is an Icelandic play, originally written for radio by Starri Hauksson. It was aired on RUV’s Channel 1 in 2008, to critical acclaim. I listened to it back then and the characters played around in my head for a while afterwards, which is always a good sign.

Now MOMENTS has found its way to London, put on stage by a company made up of young Nordic theatre professionals who have combined their skills and ambitions to create this fantastic piece of authentic Icelandic theatre, performed by an all Icelandic cast, in both English and in Icelandic (with subtitles).

The story follows a young man named Andri who, after a tragic loss, has withdrawn from society and seemingly given up on life. We watch as Andri struggles with the ghosts from the past, as well as his own existence and relationships in the present. The play, set in modern day Reykjavík, addresses the subject of family, loss and forgiveness with brutal honesty, revealing the imperfections and raw vulnerability of the human mind and being.

Directed by Maya Lindh

Andri – Aron Trausti
Torfi – Siggi Holm
Edda – Vala Fannell
Illugi – Bragi Arnason

Performances are at the Drayton Arms Theatre in South Kensington until October 31st, at 8pm and 3pm for Saturday matinees, excluding Sundays and Mondays.

Reviews have been positive so far, you can read it here and here.

Moments+(1+of+30)

15 Oct

Cate Blanchett, Maggie Smith and Alan Bennett

12079780_10153090086422124_355767851808785471_o BFI – London Film Festival is almost over. It’s been fantastic! I can’t decide which film is my favourite, but there are a few I love and some I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

Suffragette is the film I’d been waiting for like a kid waits for Christmas. I wasn’t disappointed, it’s a really good movie and I loved it. Another film I loved is Carol by Todd Haynes with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in the leading roles. It’s a brilliant movie. The Lady in the Van will perhaps be too theatrical for some viewers, but I loved it. Watching the fine acting of Dame Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings was a pleasure and I can say the same about Lily Tomlin, starring in that clever little film Grandma. She’s such a good actress and I enjoyed the film. Trumbo was good, not a perfect film but enjoyable. Great actors again, Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren and John Goodman.

Other films I’d like to recommend are; The Here After (Efterskalv) by Magnus von Horn, the documentaries Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words and He Named me Malala and finally the dark and twisted Men & Chicken (Mænd & høns).

Finally, here’s some interesting and entertaining words from the stars. Sorry about the bad quality of the recording.

First up, Cate Blanchett reflecting on better roles for women in films.

Dame Maggie Smith was asked if she’d gone method for the role of Miss Shepherd.

Alan Bennett and Maggie Smith on ageing.

Cate Blanchett was asked if she thought it would have mattered if Carol was made 5-10 years ago.

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