According to folk tales, Ok, or Okjökull, was one of the breasts of a giantess that turned into stone, the other being Skjaldbreiður. Over the years, it’s had a troubled history, one that you can soon become intimately acquainted with.
Anthropologists from Rice University in the US have produced a documentary film on Ok, Iceland’s former smallest glacier. The film is called ‘Not Ok’, thereby referring to that fact that Okjökull is no longer considered a glacier since 2014, but just another boring mountain. Thanks, global warming!
The film is directed by anthropology Professor Dominic Boyer and Associate Professor Cymene Howe and is narrated by no other than former mayor of Reykjavík and comedian Jón Gnarr. Move over David Attenborough!
“We created this film about a small glacier in a small country in order to bring the huge and often abstract problem of climate change back down to a human scale so that we can better understand how it touches our everyday lives,” director Cymene Howe says. “Iceland’s glaciers supply the country’s rivers and provide fresh water for the population,” she continues. “The melting of the glaciers will have a major impact on the country’s industries, everything from fishing to tourism.”
However, it’s still nice to hike on Ok mountain, which is why the Grapevine panel selected the hike as a runner-up for Best of West Iceland this year.
Note: The film has no relation to the My Chemical Romance song, “I’m Not Ok”.
Info: The world premiere of ‘Not Ok’ will be held at Bíó Paradís on August 17th at 5 PM. There will also be a tour of Ok mountain on August 18th at 9 AM. Both events are free and open to anyone interested. RSVP here.
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