An Icy Touch: Ragga and Markus on film

To filmmakers Ragnheiður (Ragga) Gestsdóttir and Markús Þór Andrésson, this year’s frigid Polar Vortex weather felt just like home. The two Icelandic artists were in residence in December, putting the finishing touches on their film Time and Time and Again. The 50-minute film premieres at the DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival in Finland on January 26th.

During a few productive weeks here as Benediktson Fellows, the pair shared their unfinished video project with our Film & Media crew, who worked closely with them to perfect the film’s sound, special effects, and post production. Thanks to some fantastic collaboration with our work studies, Ragga and Markús were able to fly home with a fully finished film.

The Film

The project follows the lives of two artists and a scientist who find themselves connected by a cosmic web. Based on the life and work of conceptual artist Hreinn Friðfinnsson, another Banff Centre alumnus who was here in 2008 for the Cosmic Ray residency, Time and Time and Again explores the elusive nature of time and memory, past and present.

Though perceived to be a documentary, Time and Time and Again is a curious piece of quasi-fictional work that plunges straight into Fridfinnsson’s surrealistic art and vision. Instead of pondering what makes this absurd and dramatic film a documentary or not, Ragga and Markús hope that audiences will also question what effect naming the film as documentary has on the viewing experience.

The film will be made available online after the festival season, but you can watch the trailer here.

The Benediktson Fellows are supported by the Benediktson Family and the Government of Iceland.