The Day Iceland Stood Still

When 90% of Iceland’s women walked off their jobs and out of their homes one morning in 1975, they brought the nation to a standstill and ignited a revolution that has catapulted Iceland to the forefront of today's global struggle for gender equality. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Day Off, this award-winning film tells the story for the first time through the voices of the women who lived it. Unexpectedly funny and laced with evocative animation, The Day Iceland Stood Still revisits an unprecedented act of civil disobedience that’s still inspiring people all over the world, especially at this dark time in global affairs. A fantastic documentary of a momentous struggle – not to be missed!

Directed by Emmy award-winning US filmmaker Pamela Hogan in collaboration with acclaimed Icelandic producer Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, this is the true story of 24 hours that sparked a revolution. With a score by one of Iceland’s best-known rock singers, Margrét Rán (GusGus, Vök), and evocative animated sequences by artist Joel Orloff, The Day Iceland Stood Still unfolds through the vivid memories of the women who created and lived this moment. “We loved our male chauvinist pigs,” recalls one of the activists, “We just wanted to change them a little!”

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Guðrún Erlendsdóttir recalls being told she couldn’t go to law school because “you’ll be married before you’re 18” and farmer Ágústa Þorkelsdottir, incensed that women couldn’t join the Farmer’s Association unless they were widows, wondered “Do I have to kill my husband to be recognized as a farmer?” The film features a rare interview with Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the world’s first democratically-elected female head of state, who took office just 5 years after the strike. And former President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson’s story about his father’s tragic attempt to cook the family dinner that day sheds light on why some men came to call October 24, 1975 “the long Friday.”

A film by Pamela Hogan & Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir.

Opening address by Svanhildur Steinarsdóttir, consul of Iceland (in Tokyo).

Co-sponsored by the FCCT and the Republic of Iceland.

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.