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The documentary deals with volcanic eruptions in Iceland and the ash from them, causing damage to vegation and effecting global climate. The main part deals with the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull 2010. Furthermore the eruptions in Surtsey 1963, Heimaey 1973 and finally Skaftáreldar 1783.
A documentary about the singer Kristinn Sigmundsson.
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In this wildlife documentary veteran filmmaker, Páll Steingrímsson, sets his sights on the arctic tern, which has by far the longest regular migration by any known animal.
Water is one of the most amazing substances on earth. It contradicts almost all of the rules of physics and chemistry. For instance, it has the unique characteristic of expanding and growing lighter when it becomes solid. All other substances grow heavier upon turning solid and contract as the temperature decreases. This is what causes ice to float on top of water, instead of collecting on the bottom, which makes all the difference for aquatic life and in fact for all life on earth. In addition, water has the highest specific heat of any substance, which makes it a superb heat reservoir and heat equaliser. Without water, the earth would be a desert because of fluctuations in heat.
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There is an astonishing relationship between man and the cormorant. In China the bird is used for fishing, in Peru its droppings are used as fertilizer and in Iceland it can be found on the supper table. In the Galapagos it lives in harmony with nature and has abandoned flying.
The eider do not migrate to warmer areas but survive the harsh winters in the North Atlantic. Perhaps that is why nature has provided the eider with down that has more insulatingqualities than any other bird down. The dilm shows eider "farming", a unique form of harvesting the down without harming the birds. The eider the most numerous of all ducks and geese in Iceland, counting more than half a million individuals. They return year after to a well kept colony, the biggest counting more than 6000 pairs. The female eders are seen lining ther nests with down which they pluck from their bodies. The down is collected after the clutch has left the nest.
In July we fallow puffin catchers going on small boats to uninhabited rocky islands where they catch the flying birds into nets. This hunt is very dangerous as the men have to operate from narrow ledges in cliffs high above the surfing ocean. In August we see another side of the puffin/man relationship, as the children lovingly collect helpless puffin chicks from streets and alleys and keep them in cardboard boxes at their homes for the night until the can help them to the sea in the morning.
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This documentary is an invitation to an adventurous travel about the central highlands of Iceland within and surrounding the Vatnajökull Galcier - Europes larget icecap. A travel begins at the surface of the hot spot under Vatnajökull, where fire and ice go hand in hand.
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This corporate documentary was filmed on the sands of the south coast of Iceland and describes the construction of the road and the bridge over the great glacial river Skeidará, the last obstacle impeding the completion of the road around Iceland. Riders demonstrate how the river used to be crossed, and take us on the old route over the glacier, which was used when the river was in spate.
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A documentary about the miraculous survival of an Icelandic fisherman, after his boat sank off the shores of the Westman Islands in mid winter. All the crew drowned except one, Gudlaugur Fridthórsson, who swam five and a half kilometers in the ice cold sea and then walked barefoot over a field of sharp lava to reach help. Specialists have made tests on Gudlaugur to determine how he managed to survive seven times longer than any ordinary man under these conditions.
An important and stunning documentary on whales and modern whaling with historical and scientific background. Most of the footage was shot specifically for this film in the North Atlantic and there are some shots of whale behavior that have never been captured on film before. The film is a significant contribution to the debate on the whaling controversy.
The film begins in the early hours of the morning of January 23rd 1973. A mile long fissure had ripped itself open on the outskirt of the fishing village on Heimaey, a small island of the Vestmannaeyjar group, off the South Coast of Iceland. Glowing ash and molten lava was spewed over the sleeping town. We see the evacuation of the 500 inhabitants, both by air and by sea. We witnes unbelievable scenes of bellowing craters, flowing lava, burning and collapsing buildings. We learn of the agony and uncertainty of people made homeless, and of the measures taken by the Civil Defence to deal with a disaster of an enormity rarely faced by so small a nation.
The five thousand inhabitants of the Westman Islands were evacuated during the 1973 volcanic eruption and relocated in various towns on the mainland. This film deals with the social implications of this natural catastrophy.