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 ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

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, pla ...

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, a ...

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 journalism ...

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 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, 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 "assem ...

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-Gre ...

, which he currently represents.

Film production

Þráinn has written, directed and produced seven feature films. His 1981 film ''

Jón Oddur & Jón Bjarni Jón is an Old Norse common name still widely used in Iceland and the Faroes. According to Icelandic custom, people named Jón are generally referred to by first and middle names and those without a middle name are referred to with both first nam ...

'' (English title: ''The Twins'') won a Silver Award at the 1982

Giffoni Film Festival The Giffoni International Film Festival is an Italian children's film festival which takes place annually in Giffoni Valle Piana, Campania. It began in 1971. The Giffoni International Film Festival typically has around 100,000 guests and has had ...

.Þráinn Bertelsson: Verðlaun og viðurkenningar
Bókmenntir.is, Reykjavík City Library His 1989 film ''

Magnús Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wi ...

'' was nominated for two European Film Awards, 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 Per Fredrik Wahlöö (5 August 1926 – 22 June 1975) – in English translations often identified as Peter Wahloo – was a Swedish author. He is perhaps best known for the collaborative work with his partner Maj Sjöwall on a series of ten nov ...

. In 1987–1988, Þráinn was the editor of the newspaper ''

Þjóðviljinn :'' Þjóðviljinn was also the name of a magazine published by Skúli Thoroddsen Skúli Thoroddsen (6 January 1859 – 21 May 1916) was an Icelandic judge and politician. Career Thoroddsen was a Speaker of the Althing. Family He was marri ...

'', 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 pop ...

Filmography

*''

''; English title: ''The Twins'' (1981) *'' Ég mundi segja hó'' (TV movie) (1982) *'' Nýtt líf'' (1983) *''

Dalalíf ''Dalalíf'' (English: Pastoral Life) is an Icelandic comedy film released in 1984, directed by Þráinn Bertelsson and stars Eggert Þorleifsson and Karl Ágúst Úlfsson. It is the second film in the ''Líf'' trilogy and a sequel to '' Nýtt ...

'' (1984) *''

Skammdegi ''Deep Winter'' ( is, Skammdegi) is a 1985 Icelandic drama film directed by Þráinn Bertelsson. The film was selected as the Icelandic entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 58th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margar ...

'' (1985) *''

Löggulíf ''Löggulíf'' (English: ''A Policeman's Life'') is an Icelandic comedy film released in 1985, directed by Þráinn Bertelsson and stars Eggert Þorleifsson and Karl Ágúst Úlfsson. It is the last film in the ''Líf'' trilogy and a sequel to ...

'' (1985) *''

'' (1989) *'' Einkalíf'' (1995) *''

Sigla himinfley ''Sigla himinfley'' ( en, Sail Boats of Heaven) is an Icelandic drama miniseries created by Þráinn Bertelsson. The series takes place in Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipela ...

'' (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