POEMS
A Journey through Icelandic Poetry
Documentary Feature Film | 66min | Director, Cinematographer, Editor
In POEMS, we follow Icelandic composer Viktor Orri Árnason and soprano Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir on a musical road-trip through Iceland, where they set out to discover more about the poetry that inspired their latest album ‘Poems, released via the iconic Deutsche Grammophon label in late 2023.
Árnason - who has worked closely with the likes of Jóhann Jóhannsson and Björk - wrote the album together with Guðmundsdóttir in Berlin and Reykjavik in a series of intimate recording sessions. The lyrical component of the album; carried beautifully on the ethereal waves of Guðmundsdóttir’s voice, is built on the foundations of Icelandic poetry; most of which may be little known outside of Iceland.
In an effort to remedy this, the pair embark on a musical pilgrimage to explore the cultural heritage of their native Iceland and to shed light on some of the country’s most eminent poets, both past and present. It is a journey through landscapes both physical and emotional; through fjord and fog, through words and dreams. It is a story of enduring emotional strength; of voices guided by an unquenchable thirst for beauty and grace in the face of great hardship, illness and poverty.
In a series of live and unbroken one-take shots, we see the duo performing the poems/songs, whether in the most intimate locations; a tiny wooden house where the poet Ólöf Sigurðardóttir spent most of her hard life writing, or in the breathtaking fjord of Snæfellsnes, as a glacier lurks in the mist behind them. With each chapter and each performance, they are paying their respects to the poets for their toil and their craft; to the landscape for its breathtaking beauty and seemingly endless inspiration.
Each chosen location, from windswept cliffs to serene valleys, holds a deep resonance with the poets who once roamed these lands, drawing inspiration from the very same vistas that now set the stage for this musical homage. A kind of magic happens when Árnason and Guðmundsdóttir perform together, and it is this magic – infused with the nostalgia, vulnerability and spirit of Icelandic poetry – that the film strives to capture.
Screenings 2024
Official Selection - Central Scotland Documentary Film Festival
Official Selection - Soundtrack Cologne
Official Selection - TAKT Film Fest
Nominee - International Sound & Film Music Festival