– Hlynur Pálmason’s bittersweet family-driven drama has picked up seven prizes in total, while The Fires emerged as a close runner-up with six
Hlynur Pálmason collecting one of his awards for The Love That Remains (© Edda Awards 2026)
At Iceland’s Edda Awards, which honours the best in film and television in the island country, Hlynur Pálmason’s The Love That Remains and Ugla Hauksdóttir’s The Fires emerged as the night’s big winners in the cinema categories. The former – a quiet arthouse favourite – took home the major acting and lead creative awards, while the latter – a more commercially orientated disaster thriller – dominated the technical and other artistic categories.
The Love That Remained picked up three of the acting awards, including honouring the filmmaker’s daughter, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Best Actress and Best Actor in a Leading Role went to Saga Garðarsdóttir and Sverrir Guðnason, respectively, as parents moving through a deeply emotional separation while doing the best that they can for their three children. Pálmason personally scooped the remaining three awards bestowed upon his film: Director of the Year, Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay.
Jóhann G (Joi) Jóhannsson, who plays the lead character’s husband in The Fires, picked up the Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The film follows an accomplished volcanologist whose life is upended by both a romantic affair with a Danish journalist and an impending chain of eruptions nearing Reykjavík, which nobody seems to believe will happen. With its story lending rich potential to the mise-en-scène, the film also received the Edda Awards for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score and Best Editing.
Other features that received mentions included Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir’s The Mountain and Thordur Palsson’s The Damned. Gunnar Árnason scooped the Award for Best Sound Design for his work on the former, while Ásta Hafþórsdóttir and Sophie King jointly received the Awards for Best Make-up for their contributions to The Damned, a folk horror and multinational co-production.
Yrsa Roca Fannberg’s The Ground Beneath Our Feet collected the prize for Documentary of the Year. The tender-hearted tale that follows the residents of a Reykjavík retirement home had its world premiere in the NORDIC:DOX competition of CPH:DOX last year. Freyja Kristinsdóttir collected the Best Documentary Short gong for her work Postcards and also took home the Award for Breakthrough of the Year.
Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value received the trophy for Foreign Film of the Year. Finally, Icelandic filmmaker Þorsteinn Jónsson was presented with an Honorary Award from the Icelandic Film and Television Academy for his longstanding contributions to national cinema.
The Edda Awards also honour achievements in television, where most of the major prizes are mirrored in category.
Here is the full list of film award winners:
Film of the Year
The Love That Remains – Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France)
Documentary of the Year
The Ground Beneath Our Feet – Yrsa Roca Fannberg (Iceland/Poland)
Director of the Year
Hlynur Pálmason – The Love That Remains
Children’s and Youth Film of the Year
Vonardagur – Signý Rós (Iceland)
Foreign Film of the Year
Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier (Norway/France/Denmark/Germany)
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Saga Garðarsdóttir – The Love That Remains
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir – The Love That Remains
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Sverrir Guðnason – The Love That Remains
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Jóhann G (Joi) Jóhannsson – The Fires (Iceland/UK)
Best Costume Design
Margrét Einarsdóttir – The Fires
Best Make-up
Ásta Hafþórsdóttir, Sophie King – The Damned (Ireland/UK/Iceland/Belgium)
Best Production Design
Heimir Sverrisson – The Fires
Best Visual Effects
Eggert Ketilsson, Szymon Kania – The Fires
Best Sound Design
Gunnar Árnason – The Mountain (Iceland/Sweden)
Best Original Score
Herdís Stefánsdóttir – The Fires
Best Editing
Kristján Loðmfjörð – The Fires
Best Cinematography
Hlynur Pálmason – The Love That Remains
Best Screenplay
Hlynur Pálmason – The Love That Remains
Best Short Film
Signals – Rúnar Ingi Einarsson (Iceland)
Best Short Documentary
Postcards – Freyja Kristinsdóttir (Iceland)
Breakthrough of the Year
Freyja Kristinsdóttir
Honorary Award
Þorsteinn Jónsson
