Live from the Arctic Circle

Happy 2011

Posted in Life by Jon Gustafsson on January 1, 2011

Happy 2011. I have a feeling that it will be an interesting year.

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LUNAR ECLIPSE 2010 WINTER SOLSTICE SEEN FROM ICELAND

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on December 24, 2010

Lunar-Eclipse-Iceland-Jon-Gustafsson

The View From My Window

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on June 22, 2010

Nothing beats the white nights in Iceland.

Volcanic Eruption in Iceland – Helicopter Tour

Posted in Filmmaking, Iceland, Travel by Jon Gustafsson on April 4, 2010

Volcano Flight With Helicopter.is

Just came back from a helicopter flight over the volcanic eruption on Fimmvörðuháls in Eyjafjallajökull on the south coast of Iceland. I went there with Helicopter Service of Iceland to do a promotional video for them. The video and pictures can be seen on their new website http://www.helicoptericeland.com/

Happy 2010

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on January 1, 2010

Happy New Year 2010 from Iceland

Happy New Year everyone !!!

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Saying Goodbye to 2009 in Iceland

Posted in Iceland, Life by Jon Gustafsson on December 31, 2009

Saying goodbye to 2009, a wasted year in the history of Iceland.

Christmas in Skorradalur

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas to you all.

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Twins

Posted in Uncategorized by Jon Gustafsson on December 2, 2009

html://www.thefilmweb.com/twins/Twins.flv

Sunsets

Posted in Life by Jon Gustafsson on December 1, 2009
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Getting ready for Sheffield

Posted in Film Festivals, Filmmaking, Travel by Jon Gustafsson on October 30, 2009

Sheffield Doc Fest coming up!

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Wrath of Gods starring Gerard Butler again available on Amazon

Posted in Filmmaking by Jon Gustafsson on September 13, 2009
Wrath of Gods documentary is again available on Amazon.com

Wrath of Gods documentary is again available on Amazon.com

The 2009 re-release of the documentary Wrath of Gods (with Gerard Butler) is now available on Amazon.com. Buy a copy.

Reykjadalur (Smokey Valley) Iceland

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on August 12, 2009
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Away from the disaster-zone

Posted in Travel by Jon Gustafsson on December 28, 2008

Paris is good as always. The apartment seems bigger every time I stay there. It’s good to get away from the disaster zone back in Iceland.

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The krona is dead. Long live the krona.

Posted in Iceland, Life by Jon Gustafsson on November 1, 2008

I’m afraid that the sate of our currency (the Icelandic krona = IKR) can best be expressed/explained with this video:

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Wrath of Gods SOLD OUT – 1 copy on Amazon for $58 !!!

Posted in Filmmaking, Wrath of Gods by Jon Gustafsson on October 11, 2008
Wrath of Gods is reaching "Collectors Item" status on Amazon

Wrath of Gods is sold out. Someone is selling a used copy on Amazon for $58.

The North American version of Wrath of Gods (with Gerard Butler) DVD is sold out. There are no more new copies left anywhere. I just found this on Amazon.com. Someone is offering one copy for $58. This version will not be produced again, but I am working on a final version, with subtitles in German and Spanish and never before seen footage. Still haven’t decided if it will go into production.

Gerard Butler beats up a paparazzo – Finally!

Posted in Fame, Iceland, Wrath of Gods by Jon Gustafsson on October 9, 2008
Gerard Butler kicks paparazzo ass according to the Icelandic yellow press.

Gerard Butler kicks paparazzo ass according to the Icelandic yellow press.

All I can say is FINALLY!!! Gerry has been way too cool and controlled given everything that has been going on around him. Even the Icelandic yellow press has this!!! But those silly journalists mention 300 and Tomb Raider, but forget to mention that he co-produced Wrath of Gods!… and, yes… played Beowulf. The article reminded me of the stories of how he used to fight all the time as a teenager, back when he first met Tony Curran (see the long interview on the Wrath of Gods DVD) The only thing this will do is raise his profile. I’m not sure he needs more attention though. He’s everywhere these days. I thought the in-flight version of Nim’s Island was better than the one I saw in the Chinese Theater.

Nim's Island in-flight entertainment on Icelandair.

Nim's Island on Icelandair

End of summer

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on August 31, 2008
Lighthouse at Grotta, Seltjarnarnes, Iceland. End of summer 2008.

Lighthouse at Grotta, Seltjarnarnes, Iceland. End of summer 2008. (click on the photo to see a bigger version)

Really feels like it’s gone. Hope I get one more trip into the mountains though.

iPhone comes in handy

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on August 27, 2008
Sunset, Reykjavik, Iceland August 27, 2008

Sunset, Reykjavik, Iceland August 27, 2008. iPhone comes in handy when i don't have a real camera on me.

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The Big Party Weekend

Posted in Iceland, Music by Jon Gustafsson on August 4, 2008

The big August long weekend is here. Thousands of people are camping out at these big drunken orgy festivals, but not me. I went for a hike around Ölkelduháls and Reykjadalur (Steam Valley). If you ever get to Iceland you should try to find this place. At the top of the valley you find the source of Reykjadals-river, actually two sources, one hot and one not so hot. Where those two meet is a very popular bathing spot.

Damien Rice and Amy Kuney in Reykjavik

Posted in Fame, Music by Jon Gustafsson on July 25, 2008

I love surprises. Last night I had two. First of all Damien Rice is entertaining as hell and secondly, a girl from LA called Amy Kuney came out of the blue and impressed a Nasa full of Icelanders. Great voice and great songs. I looked her up on MySpace and she seemed to have mostly done cover songs and posted them on YouTube but there seems to be a CD coming out. She looks young but her voice sounds older. Somebody obviously brought a video camera to the concert and posted this on YouTube (not me).

Horses, mares and foals

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on July 17, 2008

This time of year I don’t want to be anywhere other than in Iceland. I feel sorry for those of you who have to tolerate the heat and humidity of New York and Toronto, or the scorching heat of New Mexico and California… (you know who you are). Just to torture you I have to post these pictures I took last week. A friend of mine needed pictures of his new foals. Here you go:

It took a while till the mares trusted me. They are very protective of the young ones.

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Location scouting

Posted in Filmmaking, Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on July 8, 2008

Location scouting on the edge of Reykjavik at midnight. Love those white nights. The hope is that we’ll be able to make a short film here in the fall.

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Location scouting in down-town Reykjavik

Posted in Filmmaking, Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on July 5, 2008

It’s not until you look sideways, till you turn of the main street and into the back alleys that you see the real city. There is a feature film to be made here and we found the perfect location for it, Shadowville, down-town Reykjavik.

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Bjork in the park

Posted in Fame, Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on June 28, 2008

A well timed concert. Right now we are in the middle of an economic down-turn. It is quite possible that the unemployment rate in Iceland will rise from the current 1% to 3 or 4% in the coming months. Many people are demanding that we start building more hydro dams so we can build more aluminum smelters to keep more people employed and to raise our GDP. This is the time that we need Björk and Sigur Rós to remind us not to destroy more Icelandic natural treasures because of short sighted greed. I got there too late for Sigur Rós, but Björk was fun as always.

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Solstice in the north of Iceland

Posted in Iceland by Jon Gustafsson on June 21, 2008

Just had one of the most fund nights ever (with no woman involved that is). We left Reykjvik harbor last night at 5pm. My friend JoJo invited me along to film his gig onboard the Delphin Voyager. After the concert we sat up at the Panorama Bar on the top level of this gigantic cruice ship with guitarist Alfredo Fernando and watched the WestFjords as we sailed north in the midnight sun. After all this was the longest day of the year and we were up by the Arctic Circle. Those Germans know how to have fun. 10am on a Saturday morning. As we sailed in Eyjafjordur, towards Akureyri, they brought out the beer and the liverwurst an danced their way around the top deck of Delphin Voyager.

Sabor a mi – surprise on a cruise sip

Posted in Fame, Iceland, Music by Jon Gustafsson on June 20, 2008

One of the first people I met on board the Delphin Voyager was Alfredo Fernando, a Scottish/Chilean musician who lives in Germany. The first thing that came to my mind was, this guy must know one of my favorite songs – Sabor a mi. Alfredo and I ended up at the Panorama bar till 5am, watching the sun not set up by the Arctic Circle as we sailed past Hornstrandir and the rest of the Westfjords.

Halli Hansen – the one and only

Posted in Iceland, Wrath of Gods by Jon Gustafsson on June 8, 2008

I created this video when Halli Hansen drew the winner of the CUT!2008 VIP pass winner. The winner, Liz Drogula, couldn’t use the pass, but for some reason the video became viral among her friends. When I removed it from the WRATH website I stuck it on YouTube, so for those of you who haven’t seen it… here you go.

My Winnipeg!

Posted in Canada by Jon Gustafsson on May 23, 2008

This is my Winnipeg. Osborne Village Motor Hotel. The pictures speak for themselves.

Gerry finally hit the big time

Posted in Fame by Jon Gustafsson on May 13, 2008

Gerard Butler hanging out in Reykjavik club REX When even the Icelandic yellow press reports on who Gerry is talking to in a club in Hollywood, I know that he has finally made it big. The afternoon paper DV said that Gerard Butler, who played King Leonidas after he played Beowulf, had been seen in intense conversation with Miranda Kerr, Orlando Bloom’s girlfriend, and clearly trying to chat her up. Butler of course clarified that they were just talking business. I find this quite interesting because for the longest time the Icelandic media didn’t make the connection. Guess they all watched Wrath of Gods when it was broadcast on Icelandic State TV and finally realized who he was. The article is here.

Jody in the background

Posted in Fame, Filmmaking, Life by Jon Gustafsson on March 30, 2008
Mr. Butler signs an autograph before the premiere of Nim's Island

Mr. Butler signs an autograph before the premiere of Nim

It’s Sunday and my screening at CUT is over. I wanted to stay for the Horror day but Gerry had invited Martin and I to the premiere of Nim’s Island at the Chinese Theater on Sunset. At the end of the show it was quite interesting to see Gerry being swamped by fans and Jody Foster more or less ignored by all. The most surreal moment was when two nine year old girls walked past us and one of them proudly stated that she just got Gerard Butler’s autograph.

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