ICELAND Year Zero

Directed by Sigurður Hallmar MAGNÚSSON
Documentary film
Name of ProjectICELAND Year Zero
DirectorSigurður Hallmar MAGNÚSSON
GenreDocumentary film
ProducerVeronika Janatková, coproducers Jade Production (FR), Landmark Film (IS)
DoPArmande CHOLLAT-NAMY

In October 2008, the three main banks in Iceland collapsed, driving a nation into bankruptcy; causing thousands of people to lose their jobs, their personal savings − and hope. How does a nation, once one of the richest and most developed countries in the capitalist world, react to a total economic collapse? In a landscape where “to be rich” used to be a virtue, who is really to blame for the collapse of a far-too-fast-and-greedy banking system?  Or rather, is the decline of the capitalist values maybe the best thing that could have happened to Iceland?

Iceland: Year Zero is not an economic analysis of the bankruptcy of a nation, but rather a film about the aftermath; the impact on the people who have to deal with these economic catastrophes. It is a portrait of a nation of our times.