In this documentary, you tell the story of a deep, generational, emotional connection between your family and these glaciers. Can you tell me about the experiences and events that gave rise to this?
My grandparents were founding partners of the Icelandic Glaciological Society. They went on a three-week glacial honeymoon [in 1956] to measure and map almost the whole of Vatnajökull Glacier, which is about 10 percent of Iceland.
Árni Kjartansson (grandfather) and Hulda Filiuppusdóttir (grandmother) on their honeymoon in 1956.
Árni Kjartansson
My grandfather was a photographer, and my childhood identity was very much about these very epic pictures [of glaciers] that were on the walls everywhere. In general, his archives were very expansive. Also, the windowsills were full of rocks they collected on their trips. These little treasures made my grandparents’ home very inspiring.
Can you describe the climate-related changes that you’ve witnessed in Iceland during your lifetime?
The glaciers are the strongest indicator of what’s happening. The strongest feeling of this change was when I crossed a glacier called Skeiðarárjökull with my friends, and you could see a line on the mountain 70 meters above us, where the glacier used to [reach]. And [below that] you had 1,000 meters of snow, like [multiple] Empire State Buildings of ice [that was now gone]. You had to rearrange your brain to understand how something so massive and strong and brutal was actually fragile and receding from the force of humanity.