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Einar Thor

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki



Einar Thor
BornIceland
Other namesEinar Thor Gunnlaugsson
💼 Occupation
Film director

Einar Thor, also known as Einar Þór Gunnlaugsson, is an Icelandic film director and writer primarily based in London since 1990.[citation needed] He has written and directed various films and videos, made dozens of radio programmes for Icelandic national radio and written articles on art, politics and culture. His filmmaking style has been described by critics as laid back, amusing and minimalistic.[citation needed]

Bio

Einar Thor (Gunnlaugsson) grew up on a farm in northwest Iceland, near the village, Flateyri, where he was also born. He used to be a year ahead in junior school and left his home ground at the age of 14 for further studies in south Iceland, where he completed his compulsory school at 14. He left school at the age of 17 to work in various jobs in fishing and farming, but continued his studies again at the age of 20. He was early a horse enthusiast and bought his first horse at the age of 13 at Hvilft, and by 15 had 4 horses and a foal which he however sold when I left the county. After moving to Reykjavík, he bought his first saxophone and took music lessons from Gunnar Ormslev—Iceland’s renowned and leading saxophonist from 1980 to 1981 - or until Gunnar moved to Denmark and passed away in 1981. He worked on ships and boats as a cook and deckhand during the 1980s, and also engaged in coastal fishing on a boat (Pétur ÍS, also called Trilla in local language) he operated independently from Flateyri at the age of 19. He was a fisherman on boats such as Sif ÍS and Gyllir ÍS from Flateyri, a fresh-fish trawler, starting as a cook at 16. Also Hafnarey SF, Hornafirdi - herring fishing 1983, Eyborg EA og Ísborg EA from Hrísey / Dalvík 1986 - fishing shrimp and cod, Hákon, ÞH 250, a "freezer trawler" from Grenivík, in 1987, fishing shrimp between Iceland and Greenland, and Framnes ÍS, fresh-fish trawler, Thingeyri - Greenland halibut and cod fisheries, which was the usual one-week-tour on fresh-fish trawlers and his last job on sea, 1992.

He toured with a theatre troupe, Studentaleikhusid, and performed in the Finnish stage play *EKKO* (Icelandic title) across Iceland in 1985, the Year of Youth, but previously had earned his walk-about-money while studying working as an extra at the National TV RUV and at the National Theater in Reykjavik during the years from 1983 to 1986. At 23 he went as a volunteer to Nicaragua in 1988 during the Contras conflict. He returned to Europe where he graduated from the London Film School with a distinction in directing in 1992. He also studied mass media theory and Spanish at the University of Iceland and at the Universidad de Málaga, Spain, from 1988 to 1990, and later continued his academic studies at City University, London where he completed an MA in Art Management and Policy Making in the arts in 2001.

Career Prior to films he took part in number of European conferences on cultural and social issues in Denmark, Germany, France and Spain as a member of the Executive Committee of the Icelandic Youth Council in 1989, and was actively involved in international exchange programs in Europe and Central America in 1988. He was the sole representative for Iceland at the 4th session of the European Youth Parliament in Fontainebleau France, 1990, as a member of the Icelandic National Youth Executive Committee in his native country. During this period, Einar produced a number of radio programs for RÚV, including programs on Lorca, Buñuel, and Dalí, as well as on film history and his participation as a member of the European Youth Parliament, aired in 1990.

During his London years in the early 1990s he received a European council's grant to study in Spain, jury prize for his short film in Antalya, Turkey, nomination for the young film maker of the year award at the Edinburg film festival 1993, and appeared in number of short films and videos as an actor, including the lead in a Soul II Soul music video for UN. The video achieved wide institutional reach from 1994 through international distribution by the UNHCR and public television airplay for educational programming, (Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination - 1993/2003). It was consider the most politically urgent pieces of content the prominent British R&B/dance group Soul II Soul attached their brand to. Same year, 1993, Einar directed two music videos (Angel and Ég vil springa út) for RABBI, an Icelandic drummer and musician, and one music video for BETL, a local Reykjavík band.

In late 1990s Einar was critical of the handling of film policy in Iceland, and in 2001 wrote his MA theses at the City University, "Film Policy in Iceland", a study on the state of the film community in Iceland at the time. Among his published works in the late 1990s were articles on the Scandinavian playwrights Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. His interest in their work was influenced by his acquaintance with Michael Meyer, the English translator of both writers. Einar interviewed Meyer for an Icelandic newspaper, Lesbók, prior to Meyer's visit to Iceland fall 1998, invited by the National Theatre and University of Iceland. Einar was introduced to Meyer 1994 through his fellow London Film School student, Danish-American filmmaker Ian Bang (1961-2007). Bang later worked on Einar's feature film The Third Name, which underwent post-production in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2002, arranged by Mr. Bang. Other publications by Einar during this period included the short stories "Dolores" and "Time & Space". Einar directed one of five pieces from the film Dramarama in 2001, a feature film project that introduced also 5 new directors on the Iceland film scene. Einar directed the film's final segment.

Following the release of his dramatic feature (Small Mountain) in 2008, Variety described the film as having a "kooky charm", while a critic on Rás 2 (National Radio 2) wrote that Thor "continues to develop the art of filmmaking in the country". His earlier feature film, the drama The Third Name (2003), had received limited attention in Iceland. Heiðin also attracted controversy over a scene depicting the slaughter of a lamb, with some cinema-goers accusing the production of sacrificing an animal for the film, but the feature film was the subject of some unfounded criticism from cinema-goers who alleged that a lamb had been sacrificed during the production. Iceland review wrote in 2009; The Icelandic movie Heidin (English title: Small Mountain) has been selected to be screened at the 12th annual Shanghai International Film Festival, held in June this year. It’s the first ever Icelandic film to be screened at a major international film festival in China. 

In October 2010 his feature documentary North West was premiered in cinema in Iceland receiving favorable reviews and running for 6 weeks. In addition to North West / 2nd part, it was released on DVD late 2011. The documentary tells the story of a snow avalanche which hit the town he was born in. From 2012 onward, and prior to a series of his documentaries released from 2019, he resumed his academic studies and completed a teaching qualification, pursuing a longstanding interest in education. During this period, he continued his filmmaking activities with the production of the documentary Mirgorod, filmed in Poltava, Ukraine, with Oleg Mingalev serving as associate producer and backed by the city of Mirgorod and Iceland`s foreign office. In 2013, he attended the Flaherty Seminar in upstate New York, becoming the first Icelandic filmmaker to participate in its documentary program. Einar was the director of the Poltava Film Festival 2018.

His documentaries since 2011 deal with social and cultural issues, including two films on Icelandic labor history (2021-2023). All his work has been broadcast on Icelandic TV, mostly RUV TV, and his drama work in number of festival around the world.

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Films | Kvikmyndamiðstöð Íslands - EN | Icelandic Films | Icelandic Films". icelandicfilms.info. Retrieved 2016-05-20.


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