17/08/2005

Hollywood’s biggest film names Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood are currently shooting in Iceland until next month scenes for their latest mega-production Flags of Our Fathers, a World War II epic based on James Bradley’s eponymous best-selling book.

The film is directed by Eastwood who co-produces with Steven Spieberg for Dreamworks Pictures and Warner Bros who will release it internationally in 2006. In the lead roles are Jamie Bell, Paul Walker, Jesse Bradford, Ryan Phillippe, Neal McDonough and Adam Beach. Adapted for the screen by Paul Haggis who collaborated with Eastwood on his Oscar-winning film Million Dollar Baby, the film focuses on the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima on Japanese territory, part of the US campaign in the Pacific that killed more than 22,000 Japanese soldiers and 26,000 US troups. The battle produced one of WWII’s most enduring images: the photograph of six US soldiers raising the American flag on the top of Mount Suribachi, the island’s commanding high point.

Over 400 local Icelandic extras and 20 speaking parts have been hired for the film and according to the local news service Vikur Frettir, $32 million of the $80m budget film be will used in Iceland.
With its tax incentive introduced in 2001 which consists of a 12% reimbursement on film and TV production costs incurred on the island, Iceland is a very attractive location shoot for international productions and recent films that have used those incentives include the US blockbuster Batman Begins and the UK/Icelandic/Canadian/German co-production Guy X in 2004.
Laufey Gudjonsdottir, Head of the Centre islandais du cinéma told Cineuropa: "having Spielberg and Eastwood shooting in Iceland is fantastic. Our tax incentives are obviously very helpful in attracting foreign producers, but we also offer a good infrastructure, we are a transparent society with tax rebates very simple and fast to get, plus everybody speaks English and is very accessible".