– This charming documentary by Mika Kaurismäki, Ragnar Axelsson and Ingvar Þórðarson follows an elderly couple and their friends as they take care of a colony of 12,000 ducks
Birds and old men make the best of friends. As we see in Amongst the Birds, which screened recently in competition at Skjaldborg – the Icelandic Documentary Film Festival, over 12,000 eider sea ducks gather every year to nest and breed in a remote fjord in East Iceland. There to take care of them are couple Ólafur Aðalsteinsson (Óli) and Jóhanna Óladóttir, who have devoted over 20 years of their lives to the birds.
Directed by Mika Kaurismäki, Ragnar Axelsson and Ingvar Þórðarson, the film was shot over three years but depicts the tale of one complete season from start to finish. This documentary, which could only be described as exceedingly charming, originally had its world premiere at CPH:DOX, in the NORDIC:DOX Competition. Unsurprisingly, the film also charmed the audience at Skjaldborg, where it collected the Audience Award (see the news).
The birds get as much screen time as the people, and they seem to live in a beautiful symbiosis: the couple has grown the colony from 1,000 to 6,000 nests over the last two decades. Wearing blue coveralls, the duo – along with an invited group of family and friends – carefully set up nests in different neighbourhoods along the fjord. Óli has dedicated the months prior either personally crafting nests or finding scrap pieces of plastic and metal to mould into the perfect shapes, including mushrooms, mini-houses and even an old postbox. Here, they invite the colony of eiders to make their breeding spots while also protecting them against predators, including foxes and minks.
While Óli and Jóhanna have together started and maintained this valiant effort, it is Óli and Albert (Albert Hauk Gunnarsson), his friend and brother-in-law, who ultimately steal each scene they’re in as a septuagenarian comedic duo. Between hearing problems, friendly banter and the need for a strong cup of coffee, their friendship and love for the birds drive the story in a highly endearing combination of cute and funny. The way the directors centre their connection on screen makes it just as important as showing the lives of the birds. However, we still learn plenty about the ducks, especially towards the end of the movie, when it introduces an element of nature documentary.
With cinematography by Birgit Guðjónsdóttir, we get remarkably up close and personal with the ducks, through which we are able to understand how Óli and Jóhanna, too, first became enchanted. Amongst the Birds reminds us that there are thankless causes in the world that we will never know about – and here, we are lucky enough to get a little glimpse at one of them.
Amongst the Birds is an Icelandic production by Neutrinos Productions. The film is sold by the Icelandic Film Centre.
