- Occupation
Producer, Director - Country
Iceland
Rögnvaldsson Ólafur
Those Who Dare
The foreign minister of the tiny Icelandic nation fights for the independence of the Baltic states as they struggle to brake free from the USSR. Three small nations by the Baltic Sea, then long forgotten in the minds of the West, were the first countries of the Soviet block to restore their independence as the USSR collapsed in 1991. Facing military suppression during their independence struggle and no support from the major democratic powers of the west, help came, unexpectedly, from two small nations: Iceland and Denmark. An avid supporter of the Baltic states, Icelandic foreign minister Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson not only lent his voice to their cause in the international political arena to which the Baltic representatives were not admitted, - he also stood by their side in the streets of Vilnius when Soviet tanks invaded the Lithuanian capital. His struggle is at the core of this film, along with that of several individuals who carried the heaviest weight of bringing down the Soviet empire.
The foreign minister of the tiny Icelandic nation fights for the independence of the Baltic states as they struggle to brake free from the USSR. Three small nations by the Baltic Sea, then long forgotten in the minds of the West, were the first countries of the Soviet block to restore their independence as the USSR collapsed in 1991. Facing military suppression during their independence struggle and no support from the major democratic powers of the west, help came, unexpectedly, from two small nations: Iceland and Denmark. An avid supporter of the Baltic states, Icelandic foreign minister Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson not only lent his voice to their cause in the international political arena to which the Baltic representatives were not admitted, - he also stood by their side in the streets of Vilnius when Soviet tanks invaded the Lithuanian capital. His struggle is at the core of this film, along with that of several individuals who carried the heaviest weight of bringing down the Soviet empire.
After finishing his studies in 1986 Olafur worked as a cameraman on documentaries and dramatic tv films as well as shooting tv. Commercials. After founding Ax Films in collaboration with Anna Rognvaldsdottir he has moved on to produce tv films and programs as well as his own documentaries.
RECENT DOCUMENTARY WORK: "Umrót” (Turmoil), Documentary series (5x25 min), Produced by: Ó. Rögnvaldsson, Directors: Hilmar Oddsson and Ó. Rögnvaldss, DOP: ÓR. “The Candidate”, Documentary. (52 min), Directors: Ó. Rögnvaldsson & Skafti
Guðmundsson, Producer/DOP: Ó. Rögnvaldsson. "Those Rounded Stones", A documentary. (17 min), Producer/director/DOP: Ó.
Rögnvaldsson. RECENT DOCUMENTARY / DRAMA WORK AS PRODUCER:
“Dieter Roth Puzzle”, Dir: Hilmar Oddsson, Producer/DOP: O. Rögnvaldsson. “Fisheries at the millenium” Documentary series (8x50 min,
Dir: Hilmar Oddsson, DOP: Ó. Rognvaldsson. “Every Color of the Sea is Cold” 3x55 min. Tv series / feature - crime, Dir. Anna Th. Rögnvaldsdóttir, Producer/DOP: O. Rögnvaldsson.“Housewarming” A fiction short /18 min. Dir.: Anna Th Rögnvaldsdóttir, Producer/DOP: Ó. Rögnvaldsson. "NIFL" (OPACITY) A fiction short. 30 min., Producer / director: Thór E. Pálsson / Co-producer/DOP: Ólafur Rögnvaldsson. "Leap Year" A fiction short (16 min.), Producer/DOP: Ólafur Rögnvaldsson. Director: Anna Th Rögnvaldsdóttir
Silver Screen Awards at the US International Film & TV Festival for "Those Rounded Stones"