In her directorial debut, « a land shaped by women », Anne-Flore Marxer collaborates with fellow professional snowboarder Aline Bock to spotlight the leadership and success Iceland’s women have enjoyed in the progress toward gender equality. Exploring breathtaking Iceland in a van and on their snowboards, the snowboarding world champions introduce the viewers to the iconic Icelandic women they meet along the way.
See “« a land shaped by women »” on February 17, 2019 @ 3:45 pm at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival.
This short film deftly weaves interviews of Icelandic women, whose efforts have advanced this cause, with artistic displays of Marxer’s and Bock’s athleticism as they snowboard and surf various spectacular venues of the island nation. The combination allows Marxer to exploit Iceland’s raw beauty while alluding to the role that its challenging environment plays in the formation of capable and competent women. The exuberance and confidence Marxer and Bock display beautifully complements the attitudes and accomplishments of the women she interviews. The film elevates Iceland’s role in the modern history of equal rights.
Iceland has long been at the forefront of gender equality. A flashback reminds viewers that Vigdis Finnbogadottir was the world’s first elected female president. Greater momentum for gender equality in Iceland came after the 2008 global financial crisis destroyed Iceland’s banking sector, throwing the nation into economic and political turmoil. To calm the waters, Iceland turned again to a competent female politician, electing Johanna Sigurdardottir Prime Minister. Numerous economic and social reforms have since followed, driven by Iceland’s empowered female population. The United Nations ranked Iceland first in gender equality for the past nine years and they have not looked back.
Among others, Marxer interviewed human rights attorney, Katrin Oddsdottir, who was one of the individuals involved in creating a new crowd-sourced constitution post-2008. I asked Marxer if she observed any concern over global climate change among Iceland’s female populace. Marxer described the movement of feminine guidance, stating “As Katrin Oddsdottir explains in the film, the new constitution gives nature its own rights. Yes, it seems like women bring the projects linked to positive impact on the environment for a longer and healthier future of their society, but if I am realistic, they still have a long way to go to elevate the population’s awareness on environmental issues as they get everything too easy and accept too easily to import a lot of goods.” Ratification of the constitution is stalled and I wonder if Icelandic women are still as energized. Marxer responded, saying that women are rallying to the cause. She relates, “When I went back to Iceland just before Christmas to show the film, something incredible was happening in this matter. The Icelandic women are rising to impose the new constitution. Katrin Oddsdottir had sent a message on Facebook and received hundreds of portraits of women demanding to apply the new constitution, thousands of them have joined the movement since and their portraits have been screened on the walls of city center in Isafjordour.”
Given the small homogeneous nature of Iceland’s population, I asked Marxer if she thought the female populations of larger more diverse countries could be galvanized into such a cohesive effective force. She was characteristically optimistic; “Today, I am amazed and inspired to see millions of women rising to own their narrative in society, starting with the Women’s March, the 8 million of women who walked the streets of Madrid the 8th of March 2018 and the 5 million women in India this year. Seeing examples where women brought such positive impact in society will lead other women to take active roles in bringing changes elsewhere. It is not just a women’s issue, it is a society issue in which we are all concerned as a group. We all have mothers and our daughters are 52% of the human population, so we might want to hope for more equality worldwide. The best place to start is here and now, and hopefully the rest of the world will follow suit. Lead by positive examples.”
Like any new director, Marxer faced challenges financing her project. “We received the lovely support of our athletic sponsors; Thule, Vaude, Sunlight, Alpina, Blue Tomato, Thermopads and Rebel Fins; for the travel expenses of the trip. That was the benefit of being a professional athlete…” Filming costs were another story; “… all the people I could not afford to hire I had to do the work (instead), and that is limiting one’s ability to bring a quality product.”
The struggle, however, has not crushed her enthusiasm. For the moment, she is still working on the distribution side of this film; seeking television, VOD and airlines etc. “She has no shortage of ideas for future projects. One possibility is a return to Iceland for a film on the women who supported President Vigdis. Otherwise, she may go deeper and discover stories of people that bring positivity and empowerment. She welcomes sponsors and can be reached on her website www.alandshapedbywomen.com.
Peter Bell
Peter Bell (@PeterGBell25) is a 2016 Master of Arts – Film Studies graduate of Columbia University School of Arts in New York City. His interests include film history, film theory and film criticism. Ever since watching TCM as a child, Peter has had a passion for film, always trying to add greater context to film for others. His favorite films include Chinatown, Blade Runner, Lawrence of Arabia, A Shot in the Dark and Inception. Peter believes movie theaters are still the optimal forum for film viewing, discussion and discovering fresh perspectives on culture. He is currently free lance writing for Vague Visages.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 14-23-2019. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 89 fantastic films in all genres from 32 countries, including shorts, featuers, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
