Þráinn Bertelsson (born 30 November 1944) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic film director,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. He moved into politics in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008, and was elected a member of the

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (" thing fields" or "assemb ...

in 2009, initially for the Citizens' Movement. He later left the party to become an independent MP, before joining the

Left-Green Movement The Left-Green Movement ( is, Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð), officially the Left Movement – Green Candidature and also known by its short-form name ''Vinstri græn'' (VG), is an eco-socialist political party in Iceland. The Left-Gree ...

, which he currently represents.

Film production

Þráinn has written, directed and produced seven feature films. His 1981 film '' Jón Oddur & Jón Bjarni'' (English title: ''The Twins'') won a Silver Award at the 1982 Giffoni Film Festival.Þráinn Bertelsson: Verðlaun og viðurkenningar
Bókmenntir.is, Reykjavík City Library His 1989 film '' Magnús'' was nominated for two

European Film Award The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

s, for best picture and best script, and received the 1990 DV Cultural Prize in Iceland.Þráinn Bertelsson
Icelandic Literature, Reykjavík City LibraryMagnús
More Icelandic films, Icelandic Film Centre. He was the first filmmaker to be granted a lifetime award by the

. He was a co-founder of Norðan 8 and in 1982 founded his own film company, Nýtt líf (New Life Ltd.). He served a year as chairman of The Association of Icelandic Film Directors.

Writing

Þráinn has written columns for Iceland's largest newspaper, ''

Fréttablaðið ''Fréttablaðið'' ( en, The Newspaper) is a free Icelandic newspaper. It is distributed five days per week. History and profile ''Fréttablaðið'' was established in 2001. It was originally owned primarily by the media group ''365''. The paper ...

'', and his autobiographical ''Einhvers konar ég'' ( en, Some Kind of Me) sold more than 20,000 copies in Iceland. He has also translated several of the novels of

Maj Sjöwall Maj Sjöwall (; 25 September 1935 – 29 April 2020) was a Swedish author and translator. She is best known for her books about police detective Martin Beck. She wrote the books in collaborative work with her partner Per Wahlöö. Biograph ...

and Per Wahlöö. In 1987–1988, Þráinn was the editor of the newspaper '' Þjóðviljinn'', and in 1990 of the magazine ''Hesturinn okkar''. His 1984 book ''Hundrað ára afmælið'' won the Children's Literature Prize of the Reykjavík Board of Education. He has also written three darkly comic crime novels: '' Dauðans óvissi tími'' (''Death's Uncertain Hour'', 2004), ''Valkyrjur'' (''Valkyries'', 2005), and ''Englar dauðans'' (''Angels of Death'', 2007). They focus on satirising Iceland's "new Vikings", the unscrupulous Icelandic businessmen of the Icelandic banking boom, and the leading politicians of the same period; and on Eastern European organised crime in Iceland. From 1992 to 1994, he was chairman of The Writer's Union of Iceland.

Politics

Þráinn has been a member of the

since 2009, initially representing the Citizens' Movement party. On 14 August 2009 he left the party, choosing to sit as an independent. He is now sitting with the Left Green Party.

Personal

He is married to Sólveig Eggertsdóttir, an artist who heads a department at the Iceland Art Academy. They have two children and live in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Filmography

*'' Jón Oddur & Jón Bjarni''; English title: ''The Twins'' (1981) *'' Ég mundi segja hó'' (TV movie) (1982) *'' Nýtt líf'' (1983) *'' Dalalíf'' (1984) *'' Skammdegi'' (1985) *'' Löggulíf'' (1985) *'' Magnús'' (1989) *'' Einkalíf'' (1995) *'' Sigla himinfley'' (TV miniseries) (1996)

Bibliography

* ''Sunnudagur'' (Reykjavík : Helgafell, 1970) * ''Stefnumót í Dublin'' (Reykjavík : Helgafell, 1971) * ''Kópamaros : skáldsaga um óunninn sigur'' (Reykjavík : Helgafell, 1972) * ''Paradísarvíti : endurminningarþættir sem sjálfur hefur saman skrifað greifinn Yon d'islande, fæddur Jón Dísland, Bakka (nú Sólbakka) í Eyjafjarðarsýslu, Íslandi'' (Reykjavík : Helgafell, 1974) * ''Svartur markaður : sakamálaleikrit í 6 þáttum'', with Gunnar Gunnarsson (1978) * ''Hundrað ára afmælið'', illustrated by Brian Pilkington (Reykjavík : Nýtt líf, 1984) * ''Það var og - : 33 útvarpsþættir'' (Reykjavík : Nýtt líf, 1985) * ''Tungumál fuglanna'' (published under the pseudonym Tómas Davíðsson) (Reykjavík : Svart á hvítu, 1987) * ''Magnús : kvikmyndahandrit'' (Reykjavík : Nýtt líf, 1990) * ''Laddi'' (Reykjavík : Líf og saga, 1991) * ''Sigla himinfley'', illustrated by Snorri Freyr Hilmarsson (Reykjavík : Skjaldborg, 1992) * ''Vinir og kunningjar : óvenjulegar frásagnir af venjulegu fólki'' (Reykjavík : Dægradvöl, 1996) * ''Einhvers konar ég'' (Reykjavík : JPV, 2003) ** ''My self & I'', trans. by Hallberg Hallmundsson (Reykjavík : JPV, 2004) ** ''Bertels Sohn : ein Leben in Island'', trans. by Maike Hannek (München : Rogner & Bernhard, 2011) * '' Dauðans óvissi tími'' (Reykjavík : JPV, 2004) * ''Valkyrjur'' (Reykjavík : JPV, 2005) ** ''Walküren'', trans. by Tina Flecken (München : Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2008) * ''Englar dauðans'' (Reykjavík : JPV, 2007) ** ''Höllenengel'', trans. by Maike Hanneck (München : Deutsche Taschenbuch-Verlag, 2010) ** ''Höllenengel : ein Island-Krimi'', trans. by Maike Hanneck (Köln : Lingen, 2012) * ''Ég ef mig skyldi kalla : seinþroskasaga'' (Reykjavík : Sögur, 2008) * ''Fallið : fjölskylduleyndarmál'' (Reykjavík : Sögur, 2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertelsson, Thrainn Living people Thrainn Bertelsson Thrainn Bertelsson Thrainn Bertelsson 1944 births Thrainn Bertelsson The Movement (Iceland) politicians