Ottar M. Nordfjörd

I've been quiet for the past few months, but keeping very busy in various exciting projects, both film and TV. Some of them based in Iceland, others in the UK and Europe. Looking forward to being able to announce some of them, or at least some further details, here in the near future.   

A TV series that I've been working on with director Thordur Palsson was invited to participate in this year's Scandinavian Screenings . The project, named FLATEYRI, is backed up by the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV.  Here's the text about the project: " 6x50 disaster drama co-created by   The Vallhalla Murders ’ director Þórður Pálsson and head-writer Ottar Nordfjord. Produced by Glassriver.   Flateyri  tells the true story of Iceland’s worst natural disaster, through the eyes of a torn family. The series explores the grief this tragedy left behind, and the national unity it sparked."  

I've been quiet for the past few months, but I've been busy with a few projects that are at various different stages. One of them was a treat, a screenplay I worked on for the brilliant UK-production company Silver Salt Films. Hope to bring you more news on that - and other stuff - soon!  

Fun to see that  Vulture Magazine puts The Valhalla Murders on its "10 Icy Nordic Thrillers to Get You Through the Winter" list. A pretty "cool" list and proud to be on it.

The TV series that I've been working on with director Tinna Hrafnsdóttir has received the 2nd film grant from the Icelandic Film Centre. It's called Gólanhæðir , which is a nickname for the Reykjavík neighborhood Breiðholt . We're very excited to see this project getting pushed further ahead.

  An Icelandic TV series that I've been working on with director Thordur Palsson ( The Valhalla Murders ) has received the second film grant from the Icelandic Film Centre. It's called FLATEYRI and it's about a horrible avalanche that hit the village of Flateyri, located in Iceland's West Fjords. It happened in 1995 and cost 20 lives. It's a dramatic, heroic story that Thordur and me are passionate about bringing to the big screen.     

I've been quiet for the past months but keeping busy on various different projects. I'm not yet at liberty to speak about them in any real detail, but I'm sure I'll be able to bring you some news and updates in the near future.

The Icelandic Film Centre has awarded my film project Dimmuborgir ( Dark Cities ) the third and final script grant. My own adaptation of my novel is heading closer and closer to the big screen, and the talented director Erlingur Thoroddsen will direct the movie, while Zik Zak Filmworks will produce.      

 I've been hired on a super interesting and fun project, but I can't say a lot about it for now. Except that it's a TV series, and that it takes place in the stunningly beautiful Faroe Islands. I'll keep you updated when the news breaks.    

The Icelandic film production company Zik Zak has bought the film rights to my novel Dimmuborgir . Very excited to be working with them on the adaptation. A director is also attached, who will be announced later. Dimmuborgir is moving slowly but steadily towards the big screen.      

I'm thrilled to announce that I'm now being represented by the London-based talent agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associates . My agent is the hugely talented Jack Gilchrist.  Looking forward to working with them and the other great people at Casarotto!      

The Icelandic production company Pegasus Pictures has commissioned me to develop a TV series from their original idea. It's a fantastic concept, which I hope I can share more details about later on.

The Mexican edition of GQ magazine puts The Valhalla Murders on its list of Nordic Noir series to watch on Netflix, writing: "This Icelandic thriller is without a doubt one of the best ones on Netflix."

An Icelandic TV series that I've been working on lately with Thordur Palsson ( The Valhalla Murders ) has received the first film grant from the Icelandic Film Centre. It's working title is FLATEYRI and it's based on the incredible book Nóttin sem breytti öllu ( The Night that Changed Everything) by Sóley Eiríksdóttir. As the title suggests, it's about the village of Flateyri , which is situated in Iceland's West Fjords, and a horrible avalanche that hit it in 1995, resulting in 20 deaths. It wasn't just a blow to the small fishing community, but to the whole island. Thordur and me are passionate about this difficult but heroic story.  Currently, Saga Film is set to produce.  

  A TV series I've been working on with director Tinna Hrafnsdóttir has received the first film grant from the Icelandic Film Centre. It's titled Gólanhæðir , a play on the name of the Reykjavík neighborhood Breiðholt , which plays a large part of the show. I hope to tell you more about this project in the near future.

  The Valhalla Murders is nominated to 15 Eddas , the Icelandic Film and TV awards, including for Best Screenplay, making it the most nominated work this year. Happy and honored!  

I've signed a deal with the German film production company Amusement Park to work on a very exciting project. I can't go into details, but I'm looking forward to bringing you more news about it later.      

The Icelandic Film Centre has awarded the film project I'm working on with director/producer David Oskar Olafsson the 3rd and last script grant. Very pleased. Would love to see this movie made!

  The Icelandic Film Centre has awarded my film project, Dimmuborgir (Dark Cities), which is based on my own novel, the second script grant. Very honored. Now the work on the script itself begins!    

 Screen Rant puts The Valhalla Murders on its "10 hugely underrated 2020 Netflix Original Series" list , writing: "For the most part,  The Valhalla Murders  is pretty procedural with its typical whodunit premise. However, by keeping its conflicts taut, its characters grounded, and its cinematography top-notch, the show rises above most other run-of-the-mill cop noir shows."  

I did a small interview about the success of The Valhalla Murders in the UK.  It's in Fréttablaðið, in Icelandic, and can be read here .    

Very honored and happy to see that the BBC puts The Valhalla Murders on its "Best TV shows of 2020" list, with other great shows and favorites like Schitt's Creek, Pen15, Dark, Devs, and I may Destroy You. They write: "With its lingering dramatic shots of desolate Iceland, atmospheric soundtrack and dark themes, this eight-part Nordic-noir is perfect for winter bingeing." The full list can be read here .    

The Valhalla Murders have had a tremendous audience in the UK, with each episode getting around or over one million viewers.  

The Valhalla Murders is on The Spectator's Life list for the best European shows to watch on Netflix, with such fantastic series as Babylon Berlin , Caliphate , Dark, Money Heist and more: "...the eight-part series weaves in enough clever procedural twists to have fans of the genre keenly watching every move." The full list is here .

  Renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek was a guest at the popular podcast Red Scare, and had this to say: “I think serious civilization is defined by two things: That you have good detective writers, and good TV series. That’s why Iceland, Reykjavík, and so on, I love them, my favorite place almost in the world. They have now The Valhalla Murders , and so on, excellent TV miniseries.” The full interview can be watched here . He starts talking about Iceland and The Valhalla murders on minute 1:28:15.      

The website Broadcast collects viewer statistics in the UK and published this article a few days ago. According to it, The Valhalla Murders achieved BBC4's best Saturday drama result in two years: "BBC4's Icelandic Drama The Valhalla Murders began on Saturday night with 800,100/4% at 9pm - the highest BBC4 drama of the week and the channel's best Saturday night drama rating in at least two years."  

Liam Hamilton, who writes regularly on British TV ratings, revealed that 800.000 people watched the two first episodes of The Valhalla Murders last Saturday night. A fantastic start to our series in the UK!    

   While the first two episodes of The Valhalla Murders were shown on BBC4 Saturday night, the hashtag TheValhallamurders trended on the UK twitter. Pretty cool.

  The Killing Times gives The Valhalla Murders 3 1/2 stars in its review, writing among other things: "As starts go, it was a good one."  The full review can be read here .

  The i gives The Valhalla Murders 4-stars in its review, writing: "It feels like ages since we’ve been treated to a nicely chilled slab of Nordic Noir. And for those who enjoy their murders bloody, landscapes windswept and brooding and knitwear low-key stylish, The Valhalla Murders ticked all the boxes." The full review can be read here .

The Financial Times gives The Valhalla Murders 4 stars in its review, mentioning "hypnotic shots and tinkling dread", stating: "A wry and warm detective keeps the chilblains at bay in this frosty Icelandic thriller about a serial killer."  The full review can be read here .  

The i , the British national morning paper distributed across the UK, puts The Valhalla Murders on its list of 10 best TV shows to watch this week. The full list can be found here .

  The Irish newspaper the Derry Journal writes an article about Nordic Noir on BBC4 because The Valhalla Murders is airing there Saturday 21st November. You can read it here .  

Canvas , the Belgian television channel of the Flemish public broadcasting organisation VRT, started showing The Valhalla Murders last week, and it became the most viewed program on the channel.  You can read more about it here .

The Valhalla Murders will premiere on BBC4 Saturday 21st November at 21:00. Two episodes will be shown each Saturday, 4 nights in total until Christmas.  It's an honor to be shown at that time, since series like Borgen , The Bridge , and The Killing were shown at the same time on the same channel

Here' s a nice coverage about The Valhalla Murders on RAC1, the Catalan radio station.  

The Valhalla Murders will be shown on BBC4 in November. The trailer for the show is on the BBC page, and can be seen here . Looking forward to seeing and hearing what the UK thinks about our series.  

Spectator Life, the lifestyle magazine from The Spectator, put together a list of the best Scandi Noir to watch this winter, and The Valhalla Murders is on it, along with some of my favorites, likes Bordertown and Caliphate .   The full list can be read here .      

  The Icelandic Film Centre has granted my movie project Dimmuborgir ( Dark Cities ) the first screenwriting grant. The project is based on my own novel, which I published in April, and I highly look forward to developing the story further.   

  The news about the new TV show I'm working on is out and I did two interviews, but they're both in Icelandic.  It's a Danish TV show, which I'm writing with fellow-Icelandic writer from The Valhalla Murders , Mikael Torfason . I can't really say much about the project at this stage, except that it's being produced by two-time Academy Award winner Kim Magnusson , and helping us with the story is renowned film maker Achim Von Borries ( Babylon Berlin , Goodbye Lenin ).  The Icelandic interviews are here and here .      

Her World, the popular, best-selling women's magazine in Singapore, puts The Valhalla Murders on its list of best detective and crime shows to watch, along with such classics as Broadchurch and True Detective. The full list is here .

I'm currently working on a new TV series, but I can't really say a lot about it, except that it's Danish and produced by an Oscar-winning producer. I'm writing it with another writer and developing the story it with a German director of a much beloved series. Our series takes place in Denmark and Greenland, at different time periods. I hope to be able to bring you more news about this exciting project later on.

Renowned film site Film Companion puts the Valhalla Murders on its list of 8 foreign-language thriller series to watch on Netflix. The full list is here .

The Cinemaholic made a list of TV shows like Marcella and puts The Valhalla Murders on it, where it's with great shows - some of my favorites - like Broadchurch , The Fall , and Happy Valley . The list is here .

The Sydney Morning Herald gives The Valhalla Murders a very favorable review today: " The Valhalla Murders is enthralling stuff, the contrasting grit and gleam of the interiors and exteriors – and even of the actors themselves – weaving a visual spell of its own. But series creator Thordur Palsson knows how to set a fuse for a slow burn." You can read it here .

The Spanish edition of men's magazine GQ recommends calls The Valhalla Murders "the best thriller on Netflix". You can read the article here .

Renowned travel magazine Travel and Leisure puts The Valhalla Murders on its 13 Scandinavian binge-worthy TV shows, writing: "The first Icelandic series to appear on Netflix,  The Valhalla Murders  shows viewers all around this island nation — on the trail of a killer. After a series of seemingly unrelated murders around the country, a detective returns home from his post in Oslo to help investigate. What happens next takes him from Reykjavik to the harbor to the wilderness along the Ring Road, and is based (loosely) on real events that occurred in rural Iceland in the 1940s." Read the full list here .

The Golden Globes website recommends The Valhalla Murders , in an article about Nordic Noir shows, concluding: "While the series may start out slowly, it rewards your patience with the tension that builds with each episode." You can read it here .

Arts Atlanta recommends The Valhalla Murders, writing: " From Iceland comes The Valhalla Murders (eight episodes), the twisty tale of Reykjavik police detective Kata (Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir) who investigates a string of mutilations and murders of middle-aged and older people who worked at a 1980s school for boys with a dark history."  Adding: "As in the best of these things (think the UK’s Prime Suspect or Happy Valley ), what’s as interesting as the whodunit is the professional gender politics and home-life pressures our lead inspector must navigate." You can read it here .

Popsugar puts The Valhalla Murders on its list of 17 foreign thriller series on Netflix that will "have you on the edge of your seat," as they put it. The list is here .