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Filming in Iceland

Iceland’s easy accessibility, generous filming incentive has now increased from a rebate of 20% to 25%, making the country more affordable than ever.
The country has become a favoured location for Game of Thrones and has also hosted Interstellar, Thor: The Dark World, Noah and more recently, Star Wars prequel Rogue One.

Iceland offers truly spectacular volcanic landscapes and glaciers that appeal to filmmakers around the world. The country is easily accessible from Europe and North America, has a skilled crew base and is compact enough to reduce internal travel times to just a few hours.

Its light conditions are among the natural features that make it unique, with the sun setting for only about three hours a day from mid-May to mid-August.

Commercials frequently make use of the close proximity of contrasting landscapes. Snowy hilltops, beaches, glaciers and the modernity of the capital city Reykjavik are all within easy reach of each other, which is always handy for producers on a tight schedule.

Iceland is an extraordinarily beautiful and natural place offering breathtaking landscapes with buildings that offer clean structural design, which really suited our ambition – plus only three hours flight from London.

Frith Tiplady, Executive Producer on Fortitude

Climate

The mean annual temperature in the capital, Reykjavík, is -0.5C in January, which is warmer than New York, and 10.3C in July. In Iceland winter is from November to March, spring is April to May, summer is in June, July and August and autumn is September to October.

From the middle of May until the middle of August, the sun only sets for around three hours a day.
In mid-winter there are around five hours of effective daylight. These long and short periods of daylight add drama to the atmosphere with lingering twilight.

  • Average daily daylight

  • Average daily sunlight

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