Baldvin Zophoníasson, or Baldvin Z, is an Icelandic film and television director, writer, and producer. He was born in 1978 in

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

. He is best known for his films ''Jitters'', ''

Life in a Fishbowl ''Life in a Fishbowl'' (, literally ''Hope Street'') is a 2014 Icelandic drama film directed by Baldvin Zophoníasson. It was screened in the Discovery section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. It was selected as the Icelandic en ...

'', '' Let Me Fall'', and the television series ''

Réttur ''Réttur'' (, ''Right'') is an Icelandic television series created and produced by Sigurjón Kjartansson of RVK Studios, retitled ''Case'' and ''The Court'' in English-language markets. It was picked up by NBC and producer Howard Gordon for a U ...

'' and '' Trapped''.

Career

Baldvin's first feature film was the Icelandic-language teenage drama ''Jitters'' (titled ''Órói'' in Icelandic), released in 2010. The film portrays "the confusion and excitement of being a teenager". It won the Children's Film Award at the Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival. His second feature was the 2014 movie ''

'', co-written with Birgir Örn Steinarsson, which won at the Edda Awards (including Best Director), Zurich Film Festival, and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and gathered numerous award nominations. The film is an ensemble drama set in the year before the severe

economic collapse Economic collapse, also called economic meltdown, is any of a broad range of poor economic conditions, ranging from a severe, prolonged depression with high bankruptcy rates and high unemployment (such as the Great Depression of the 1930s), t ...

in Iceland in 2008. It portrays people from various walks of life whose lives intersect in unexpected ways. Baldvin's next major project was directing the third season of TV series ''

'', created by Sigurjón Kjartansson and produced by Saga Film for Icelandic national television

RÚV Ríkisútvarpið (, ; abbr. RÚV ) is Iceland's national public broadcasting, public-service broadcasting organization. Founded in 1930, it operates from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional centres around the count ...

and

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. He directed three episodes of Baltasar Kormákur's Nordic noir drama '' Trapped'' in 2016. In 2017, he released two documentaries. The first was titled ''Reynir Sterki: Beyond Strength'' and described the tragic life of vagabond strongman Reynir Örn Leósson. The second was '' Island Songs'', a real-time multimedia project documenting the creation of

Ólafur Arnalds Ólafur Arnalds (; born 3 November 1986) is an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. He mixes strings and piano with loops and beats, a sound ranging from ambient/electronic to atmospheric pop. He is also th ...

' album ''Island Songs'' in various locations around Iceland. This was Ólafur's third collaboration with Baldvin, as he'd previously scored Baldvin's first two feature films. His second collaboration with Birgir Örn Steinarsson, the feature film '' Let Me Fall'', was released in 2018.

Director filmography

References

External links

* {{authority control Icelandic film directors Zophoniasson, Baldvin 1978 births People from Akureyri