Iceland’s Glassriver To Launch Film Division

Icelandic production company Glassriver is launching a dedicated film division. 

The new division will be led by director Baldvin Z, best known for features like Life in a Fishbowl, Let Me Fall, Jitters, and the Netflix original series Case.

The company said its film slate will feature original feature films and international co-productions. The first title in development is Dark Ocean from Matthías Tryggvi Haraldsson.

The film is described as a claustrophobic drama set on a fishing trawler in the North Atlantic. The synopsis reads: Exploring masculinity, grief, and the corrosive cost of survival, Dark Ocean tells the story of a young deckhand on his first voyage as he and a team of fishermen battle the brutal forces of nature and face the ruthless demands of survival at sea. 

The project was announced earlier this year as part of the New Nordic Films project slate at the Haugesund Film Festival. The company has said a second project from Black Sands and Cold Haven writer Elias Kofoed Hansen is in development.

“With the launch of Glassriver’s film division, we have the opportunity to tell bold, emotionally raw stories that resonate far beyond Iceland’s borders,” Baldvin Z said in a statement. “Our goal is to create cinematic experiences that are as intimate as they are epic, grounded in truth, but made for the world stage with global partners.”

Guðgeir “Gucci” Arngrímsson, Producer at Glassriver, added: “We’re building a slate of films that reflect the soul of Iceland but are relevant wherever you are: extremes, humanity, dark humour with emotion. We’re collaborating with exceptional talent both locally and internationally, and are ready to meet more partners to expand this. It’s time international cinema took up more space on the screen.”

The wider Glassriver slate includes Cold Haven, an 8-episode crime thriller in co-production with Portugal’s SPi SA, currently in post-production. Glassriver’s latest releases include the international 8-episode drama As Long as We Live, medical drama Fractures, and Black Sands, which debuted at the 2025 Berlinale.