A still from Erlendur Sveinsson's Give Us This Day (1997).

Now showing on a computer screen near you: Erlendur Sveinsson’s one of a kind documentary from 1997; Give Us This Day (Íslands þúsund ár). The film describes one day in the life of Icelandic fishermen, pre-industrialisation, and shows us the methods of catching fish from the treacherous Icelandic waters, as it was practised for centuries.

The film’s straight-forward storytelling and stern atmosphere creates an awe-inspiring effect. Dwarfed by the powerful elements and sometimes a split-second away from instant death, the fishermen’s tactics are a fascinating blend of classical skills, respect and pure serenity. The trappings of Christianity may be visible on the surface but what this is really about is survival in its purest form; negotiating a pact with the forces of nature, find food, return to base and be ready to face the same with a new dawn.

Give Us This Day was made after Sveinsson, and his collaborators Sigurdur Sverrir Pálsson and Thórarinn Gudnason at now defunct production company Lifandi myndir, had finished the epic documentary series Fisheries Fortress (Verstöðin Ísland – 1992), which depicted Iceland’s fishing history from the old methods, through modernisation at the turn of the 20th century and up to the present. The series were commissioned by LIU (The Federation of Icelandic Fishing Vessel Owners) and screened by public broadcaster RUV.

Give Us This Day expands on the opening section of that series and the unfinished mid-section of another historical documentary series the team made in 1984, called Lífið er saltfiskur (lit transl.: “Life is a Salt Fish“).

Erlendur Sveinsson (photo by Sigurjón Pétursson).

“We couldn’t have done it differently”, Sveinsson says in a conversation with ICN. “We had a budget to build an authentic fishermen’s base in Bolungarvík (it’s now a museum) for the other films, so we could shoot the opening and closing sections of Give Us This Day there. The mid-section at sea was filmed three years later.” He adds that he doubts that it would be possible to finance a project of this kind today.

Check out the film at Poppoli’s website here, were you can also order the DVD of this remarkable film.