Sóley (1982)

The first feature length film directed by an Icelandic woman, Sóley or, The Hidden People of the Shadowy Rocks, is set in Iceland's dark eighteenth-century. The film relates the adventures of a young farmer named Thor who loses his horses that he owes as tax to the Danish church. When the protestant priest (the antagonist of the film) comes to collect the lost horses, it leads Thor on a desperate search for his freedom. His journey brings him into the uninhabited interior of the country- the outlaw lands. Here he encounters legendary figures of folk tradition, notably the elf-maiden Sóley, who accompanies him on his way across the highlands. She is the incarnation of dreams woven by the pagan farmers of Iceland, poverty stricken and oppressed by the church. The film culminates in a dynamic scene in which an army of elves on horseback wielding torches emerge from their hidden homes to overtake the church while holding a party within the pews during the sermon. When director Róska was asked about the film, she said it is about "a dream and reality meeting up and going on a journey together".