The Day Iceland Stood Still

This documentary showcases some of the women involved in the Icelandic 1975 women's strike or "day off" as it was called to appease more conservative participants.

The documentary is exceptionally well made, with a mixture between archive footage, interviews, nature scenes and animations. The animations are used to illustrate the speakers' feelings, which are captured very well both by the colours and perspectives used in the animated sequences. The interviewees involved are however the stars of the show - their wit, charme, eloquence and sincerity make every scene worthwhile. A truly inspiring documentary.

I watched and enjoyed it on board an Icelandair flight back to BWI after a 3-week vacations where I saw the woman president Halla Tómasdóttir, presided over National Day ceremonies. Too bad the film is not more widely available, except in a pressurized aluminum tube six miles above the North Atlantic Ocean. A small and exclusive audience indeed.. It is well conceived and expertly crafted documentary. I found it to be joyful, serious and Informative. I would not have know what it was about except for a photography museum exhibit I saw in Rekyiavik that mentioned it. I wonder if a similar movie can be done about the women who took charge of Iceland institutions after the collapse of the financial systems in 2007. Part of the charm of this movie, however, was seeing the bright eyes of the older women and and what they looked like when they were younger in 1970s old film clips. It is a lesson in coalition building we can all learn from today.