''Dreamland'' () is a 2009

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic documentary film about

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

environmental preservation Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologi ...

and

damming A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

, focusing on the

Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant ( ), officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station ( ) is a hydroelectric power plant in Fljótsdalshérað municipality in eastern Iceland, designed to produce annually for Alcoa's Fjarðaál Aluminium smelting, alu ...

and its

environmental impact Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans ( human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot reco ...

. The movie is based on the book '' Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation'' by

Andri Snær Magnason Andri Snær Magnason (born 14 July 1973) is an Icelandic writer. He has written novels, poetry, plays, short stories, and essays. Andri is also a director and producer of three documentary films that have premiered in IDFA and CPH:DOX. His ...

. The film's soundtrack is composed by

Valgeir Sigurðsson Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 18 June 1971) is an Icelandic record producer, mixer, composer, audio engineer and musician. Biography Coming from a musical background, Valgeir's fascination with recording technology led to a job in a small recordin ...

Content

The documentary Dreamland addresses the question of whether Iceland should preserve its unspoiled, unique nature or whether the nation should build enormous dams to produce hydro-electric energy. The film shows how implementing "green energy" to provide aluminum industries with cheap energy threatens the natural wonders of Iceland. Through interviews with economists, psychologists, historians, poets, editors, and industry managers, the film delivers insight into different point of views. The documentary illustrates the fact that fear is a powerful emotion and a way of controlling people. For example, the fear of unemployment often leads to a limited view of other possible alternatives. To develop the countryside of Iceland and to employ its citizens, the Icelandic government made Iceland the biggest aluminum manufacturer. The second theme of the documentary is how the economy benefits from war. The American military base in Keflavík increased the economy of Iceland, but when the United States no longer needed the base, Icelanders feared for their jobs, and the Icelandic government desperately lobbied the American military to stay. The documentary streams pictures of a beautiful, untouched nature, including volcanoes, glaciers, mountains, and waterfalls, followed by gigantic hydro towers and dams that destroy the wilderness and beautiful landscape. It makes use of clips from the 2005 documentary ''

Wira Pdika ''Wira Pdika'' (or, in Odia, ''Matiro Poko, Company Loko'', both meaning 'Earth Worm, Company man') is a 124-minute 2005 film independently produced and directed by Samarendra Das and Amarendra Das, characterised by the reviewer Subrat Kumar ...

'', about

Bauxite mining Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

in the

Niyamgiri The Niyamgiri is a hill range situated in the districts of Kalahandi and Rayagada in the south-west of Odisha, India. These hills are home to Dongria Kondh indigenous people. The hills have one of India's most pristine forests in the interior. ...

hills of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, to emphasise the relationship of aluminium smelting in Iceland to exploitation elsewhere.

External links

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View film online via icelandiccinema.com
2009 films 2009 in the environment 2000s Icelandic-language films Documentary films about water and the environment Icelandic documentary films 2009 documentary films {{Iceland-film-stub

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See also

External links