A Festival of Icelandic Experimental Film

Volcanoes, fishmeal factories, black sands, music, geothermal power plants, medieval literature, and pickled ram’s testicles—Iceland is known for many wonders, but until now, experimental cinema has not been counted among them. That is about to change.

The National Gallery of Iceland and the National Film Archive of Iceland present a winter festival of Icelandic experimental film. Following CAMERA INSULARIS, the Icelandic section of the 2026 Videoex festival in Zurich, writer Sjón continues to chart the terrain of experimental filmmaking in Iceland. He has now selected more than 20 works, past and present, for a programme under the same title at the National Gallery of Iceland in January 2027.

Prepare your senses for formalism in narrative and visual thinking, and for incoherence in execution and aesthetics; expect digital inventions to encounter a handmade world; witness the idea of “the Icelandic” being stretched beyond its bounds. See moving images rise from the oblivion of history.

The four-day festival runs from January 14 to 17, 2027, and will feature screenings and conversations with filmmakers and scholars.