The Grand Harmony of the Sands (2021)

Viðmælendur

The Grand Harmony of the Sands (2021)

AS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD

Log line

Here, the lens is focused on an area that has long been known for its unique beauty and grandeur, but it features, among other things, Glacier Lagoon and Fjalls-river Lagoon. In this area, the effects of global climate change are very noticeable, but Glacier Lagoon was e.g. barely existed almost a century ago.

Synopsis

THE GRAND HARMONY OF THE SANDS is a (31-minute) documentary film that describes the vibrant nature of Breidarmerkursand in Austur Skaftafellsýsla. In a nutshell, the beauty of Vatnajokull ignites wonder and awe towards the wonders of nature, which in turn strengthens the understanding of the importance of protecting such nature. The glacier is dynamic – „alive“ to a certain extent. Moves forward in the winter – then takes a „jump“ from time to time, runs. Changes with the seasons – is rough and white during the summer, smooth and glacial blue during the deep winter. The consequences of catastrophic warming are most visible in the increasingly rapid melting and retreat of the glaciers, which will be mostly gone in 100-150 years.

The extremes of the Icelandic glacier world are at Glacier Lagoon on Breidamerkursand, but there is a unique research site right next to Highway 1, the ring road. Breidamerkurjokull/glacier has retreated proportionally the most of all the glaciers in Iceland, and the area in front of it, Breidamerkursandur, which was almost entirely covered by a glacier around 1890, is now shaped by geological processes unleashed by the retreating glacier. A large number of different landforms have been created there, which the glacier has left behind. These landforms then form the basis for habitat formation and then the creation of new ecosystems for organisms.

Glaciers in summer clothing and glaciers in winter clothing are completely different things. In summer, the glacier is rough and white, with black and cracked glacier tracks, but in winter, the glaciers become sky blue, clear and smooth, reflecting the much more varied light, the spectacle, from the sky. When you walk over a glacier in winter, it often feels like you have a rainbow under your feet. Or a completely deep blue color, or light blue, green or yellow. It is a unique experience to be surrounded by glaciers in winter. The ice caves of Breidamerkurjokull/glacier are an exceptionally beautiful structure, where you can walk into the glacier and under it, you will be surrounded by glacier blue and ice sculptures of all shapes and sizes.

Breidamerkurjokull/glacier, but it is so big, complex, and amazing that it is almost impossible to capture it all in one stroke, one thought. His beautiful white visage also has its opposites, he can be a destructive force that covers and crushes everything that comes under him. Its ice landscape is as alien and uninhabitable to humans as can be imagined. But there we also find a natural beauty that has no equal, a beauty that has its source in wild, free, abundant nature and is guarded by the rangers of Vatnajokull National Park, i.e. protected area that was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019.

The retreat of Vatnajokull/glacier – its erosion – is a clear indication of the reality of global climate change. Information about the state of affairs in the past, present and future is the key to understanding climate change

Basic information

Title:
Hinn stóri samhljómur sandsins

English title:
The Grand Harmony of the Sands

Genre:
Heimildarkvikmynd

Language:
Icelandic, English

Director:
Gunnlaugur Þór Pálsson

Producers:
Gunnlaugur Þór Pálsson & Þorvarður Árnason

Script:
Gunnlaugur Þór Pálsson & Þorvarður árnason

Producer:
Sjónhending ehf

Co-Procucer:
Loftslagssjóður & Kvískerjasjóður

Director of Photography:
Ólafur Rögnvaldsson

Editor:
Ólafur Rögnvaldsson

Music:
Sindri Már Sigfússon (Sin Fang)

Sound design:
Gunnar Árnason

Production Company:
Sjónhending ehf

Co-Production Company:
Loftslagssjóður & Kvískerjasjóður

Sales and distribution company abroad:
Sjónhending

Domestic sales and distribution company:
Sjónhending

Sound:
Stereo (Surround 5.1)

Length:
00:30:41:00

Recording format:
ProRes 4K 4.4.2 HQ

Projecting format:
DCP – MP4 – MFX

Projecting screening ratio:
16:9 (1:2,39)

Premiere:
24.09.2021

Country of production:
Ísland

Tagline, one sentence in Icelandic and English:

EINS OG UPPHAF HEIMSINS

AS FROM THE BEGINNING OG THE WORLD