Húsavík becomes a world capital of exploration cinema this weekend as the 11th Explorers Festival continues with a diverse lineup of films from across the globe. Over three days, audiences will journey from the Arctic to the Amazon, from Iceland’s volcanic deserts to the deepest parts of the ocean, all without leaving town.
The festival features 22 films from 17 countries, celebrating discovery, science, adventure, and the fragile beauty of the natural world. Filmmakers, explorers, scientists, students, and local residents are gathering in Húsavík for screenings, discussions, and special events.
Saturday Screenings – Nature, Survival, and Human Resilience
Saturday begins with short films capturing the magic of winter and the raw forces of Iceland’s highlands.
First Day of Winter, The Rift, and Outside the Frame set the tone with reflections on changing seasons, endurance, and the challenges facing wildlife photographers.
The morning continues with sweeping aerial vistas in Crossing Through the Highlands of Iceland, followed by the haunting The Bear Hunter, a personal journey into the moral tensions of hunting in the Yukon.
At midday, the spotlight turns to women’s leadership in Iceland, sprakkar land, before the powerful Arctic portrait Russian Spitsbergen takes viewers to remote settlements shaped by glaciers, isolation, and climate change.
The Icelandic afternoon continues with Kingdom of Fish: The Power of Water, exploring river restoration and the return of wild fish.
Later in the day, the mood shifts to personal storytelling and scientific discovery:
– 45 Days – Sensing the Polar Night, a poetic film from the Arctic darkness.
– Wild Proximity, a tender portrait of intimate wildlife encounters.
– Nodules and Chasing the Arctic Melt, two films tackling the tension between science, industry, and a changing Arctic.
The Saturday program ends with the moving re-examination of Arctic history in A Tale of Two Qallunaat.
Sunday Screenings – Art, Ecology, and the Limits of Exploration
Sunday opens with Civil Disobedience, documenting the rise of climate activism, followed by an atmospheric return to Greenland in A Remote Frontier.
The program then travels deep into Nepal with Look Down Not Up, where filmmakers and scientists hunt for rare fungi in the shadow of Everest.
At midday, Green Citizen presents an inspiring Italian perspective on community, sustainability, and everyday environmental action.
On Sunday afternoon, the festival turns toward the intersection of art and nature.
Kaeté, from Brazil, blends Indigenous wisdom, surfing, and forest craft into a sensory celebration of balance.
Next, the Iceland–Belgium film On Melting Snow brings audiences into a quiet, poetic world of memory, landscape, and artistic expression.
Two evening films close out the festival with sweeping emotion and cosmic wonder:
– Polar Pulse, chronicling a young woman’s first polar expedition in Greenland.
– Space Chasers, where an OB/GYN from New York travels the globe in pursuit of starlight and astrophotography.
A Global Gathering in a Small Icelandic Town
From large-scale expeditions to intimate portraits of everyday explorers, this year’s collection highlights humanity’s enduring curiosity and responsibility toward the planet.
Festival director Örlygur Örlygsson notes that no two films are alike, yet all share a common thread:
“These stories remind us why exploration matters—not only to discover the world, but to understand our place in it.”
With filmmakers, guests, and visitors arriving from around the world, Húsavík once again demonstrates why it has become a hub for exploration storytelling. The weekend promises inspiration, new perspectives, and a rich cinematic journey through the planet’s wildest and most remarkable places.
