The Artist and the Documenter: The Filmmaking of Vigfús Sigurgeirsson

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the career of filmmaker Vigfús Sigurgeirsson (1900–1984), from the time he travelled to Germany in 1935 to buy a film camera until his final films from the 1970s. Footage from his earliest attempts at filmmaking reveals Vigfús’s highly distinctive style, particularly in terms of his deliberate use of perspective and lighting. His inspired methods in the styl ized filming of farmers illustrate the foreign influence of the 1940s on Vigfús’s approach. However, in his later works, he moved away from this style to a more documentary form through his filming of the president of Iceland and, in particular, his films on vanishing farm work practices in the 1950s and 1960s. Vigfús’s role in the making of Iceland’s first official promotional films at the 1939 World’s Fair is examined, as well as his production of a promotional film for the Federation of Icelandic Cooperative Societies (SÍS), also shown at the World’s Fair. New information has clarified which films were shown by the Icelandic delegation and how the screenings were conducted. Vigfús greatly influenced the visual representation of the newly founded office of the President of Iceland, as he was chosen to accompany the president on trips and during various official duties. His attempts to place the presidency in a national context during President Sveinn Björnsson’s first official trips can be analysed thanks to the digitisation of Vigfús’s films by the National Film Archive of Iceland. Also examined here is Vigfus’s role in creating a propaganda film for the Independence Party about the riots at Austurvöllur on 30 March 1949, a piece which has recently been rediscovered. In the context of Vigfús’s career, a theory is presented about changes in Icelandic filmmaking after 1935. With the introduction of public funding for the industry, along with early film projects developed by institutions and non-profit organisations, the institutionali sation of filmmaking in Iceland introduced the possibility for filmmakers to receive payment for their work. This transformation is illus trated by the first projects Vigfús was hired to produce, namely, films for the Icelandic Horticultural Society, the Swedish–Icelandic Society, and SÍS. In sum, this article offers new insights into aspects of Vigfús Sigurgeirsson’s career as a filmmaker, while also investigating how his aesthetic shifts from his stylized films from the 1940s to his more neutral documentaries from the 1960s.