FARMERS LIFE — My Icelandic Documentary Is Now Free on YouTube (English Subtitles)

Some stories take you halfway around the world. Others bring you home.

MAKING THE DOCUMENTARY

Since I started making films I’ve always travelled the world looking for interesting subjects. When I find them, they usually have foreign connotations because “Iceland vis-à-vis the globe” has always spoken to me and I have thought of my films to be attempting to enrich understanding of different cultures and, in doing so, ourselves as human beings and how we relate to the world. Last time I found myself with my camera in the Philippines facing a culture and subjects that were very foreign to me when shooting The Amazing Truth about Queen Raquela. This time I’m going back to my stomping grounds, my hometown of Budardalur Valley." - Olaf de Fleur

Made with Guðni Páll Sæmundsson, the film follows four people in an Icelandic farming community. Costs keep climbing, debt hangs over their lives, and the money coming back from their work isn’t keeping pace. Behind those financial pressures are people whose homes, livelihoods, and identities are deeply connected.

There’s something different about looking closely at a familiar place. Things you once took for granted become questions. What keeps people there? What does their work mean to them? And what happens when keeping a farm alive becomes more than hard work can solve?

You don’t need to know anything about farming to connect with those questions. Most of us understand the feeling of working hard for something we’re afraid of losing.

The full documentary runs approximately 56 minutes, and you can watch it for free on our Youtube channel Icelandic Film Bakery.

🎬

Filmmaking Classes on Skillshare – 30 Days Free:
https://skl.sh/4fX3AFY

IMDb:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1786164/

My Film Company – Poppoli:
https://poppoli.com