Association of Filmmakers Criticizes Shooting Fast 8 At Mývatn

A few months ago, Fast & Furious announced that their eighth movie would be filmed in Iceland. Now the Association of Filmmakers has expressed reservations about the reimbursements and the environmental impact of this film production.

RÚV reports that the Association demands Icelandic law apply to the producers when it comes to working hours, wages, safety and health.

A bill that was submitted to parliament mid-March seeks to raise the reimbursement rate from 20% to 25%. One of the reasons for this is to keep up with increasing competition in the film industry.

Foreign film projects have been blooming in recent years in Iceland. Series such as Fortitude and Game of Thrones, as well as movies such as Noah, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Star Wars, have all been shot in the country. All these films — together with the most recent Fast 8 — generated 2.8 billion ISK in revenue.

The Association also wants to increase Icelandic or European participation to 30% when it comes to these productions. Furthermore, they criticise the fact that Fast 8 was shot close to Lake Mývatn.

“Most recently, the production of Fast 8 disturbed the delicate ecosystem of Lake Mývatn with explosions and car traffic on ice,” The Association of Filmmakers states. “This ended in a disaster causing even more pollution than there already is.”

However, the Environment Agency of Iceland states that the production team has not done anything illegal concerning the movie, because they always had the licenses to film there.