Poor Iceland

Poor Iceland

  • Overview
  • Crew

Status

Released

Release Date

Nov 10, 2016

Runtime

1h 20m

Genres

Documentary

Original Title

Aumingja Ísland: Sturlungaöld um aldir alda

Director

Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon

Description

When the Icelandic banks collapsed in the autum of 2008, taking most of the economy down with them, Ari Alexander took his camera and started to film what was happening in this tiny but relatively stable and affluent society. He filmed the ever-larger protests that in the end led to the downfall of the government. He took interviews with people shocked and confused by what was going on around them. He went to conferences and seminars where scholars tired to work out what had happened and what should happen next. He followed the endless debates and negotiations around the Icesave-accounts set up by Icelandic banks abroad. Every day brought fresh news of the complicated and often illegal deals made by financiers and bankers in the years leading up to the collapse.