UK sales outfit Bankside Films has boarded world sales for Ugla Hauksdóttir’s volcano thriller The Fires.
The Fires is about a volcanologist, responsible for predicting the volcanic activity and ensuring public safety, who finds herself caught between a love affair that may destroy her family and an eruption that threatens the capital city.
It is the debut feature of Hauksdóttir and will shoot in Iceland this summer with a local cast led by Vigdís Hrefna Pálsdóttir (pictured left in concept art materials), Guðmundur Ólafsson, Þór Tulinius, Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir and Jörundur Ragnarsson.
Written by Hauksdóttir and Markus Englmair, the film is an adaptation of the bestselling Icelandic novel of the same name by Sigríður Hagalín.
It is set against a backdrop of unease and fear as volcanoes that have been dormant for 800 years show signs of life in Iceland’s populated region.
“When I read Sigríður’s novel in January 2021, I couldn’t imagine that the events described in the book could become a reality, but two months later, we had the first eruption in 800 years on the Reykjanes peninsula,’ said Hauksdóttir, of recent volcanic eruptions in Iceland.
”Five eruptions later, we are still anticipating further events, and devastatingly, the town of Grindavík has been evacuated indefinitely,” Hauksdóttir continued.
With credits including Amazon Studios series The Power, Hauksdóttir is the first Icelandic female director to become a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
The film is being produced by Grímar Jónsson (Rams) of Iceland’s Netop Films and Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska of Poland’s Madants outfit, whose credits include Lamb and The Silent Twins.
“It’s not the first Icelandic project that fascinates me, they have amazing stories to tell up there,” said Śmieja-Rostworowska.
Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green serving as executive producers for Bankside, with Kelliher describing the film as “an edge of your seat thriller coupled with a story about love and survival in the most extreme circumstances”. Bankside is co-repping North America with Anonymous Content.
The production is supported by the Icelandic Film Centre and Icelandic Reimbursement Scheme for Film and TV.
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