Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon

Directing·Jan 1, 1968·Reykjavik, Iceland

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Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, to an Icelandic father who was a playwright, film and theatre director and a Siberian-Yakutian mother who is an actress and visual artist. Magnusson's mother graduated from the acting school GITIS in Moscow and his father graduated from the legendary film school VGIK where his parents actually first met. They moved to Reykjavik, Iceland from Moscow in 1966 after his father lost faith in the utopian dream of the USSR. Magnússon lived in Aarhus, Danmark 1979-83. He moved to Paris in 1989, studied at the Sorbonne University 1989-90. He earned a BFA in fine arts from Parsons Paris School of Art and Design, 1991-96. Since then he has exhibited his paintings, installations and video work in galleries in Iceland, Danmark, France, England, USA, China, Argentina, Russia and Siberia. Magnusson has received several awards and was nominated to the Nordic Council Film Prize in 2005 for his music documentary Screaming Masterpiece, led by Björk and Sigur Rós. Magnússon premiered his first narrative feature film MIHKEL, at the 2018 Busan International Film Festival in South-Korea, in competition at the Warsaw International Film Festival in Poland, cinema release in Estonia and Iceland same year. It's a dramatic film based on a real-life tragedy that took place in Iceland in 2004, involving two childhood friends from Estonia. The film was produced by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Evil Doghouse, Amrion Production and Truenorth with full production support from KMÍ the Icelandic film Centre and development support MEDIA Programme of the European Union. Ergis Film Production, owned by Ari Magnusson, was established in 2002. The company's focus has been on documentaries, mostly on artists, and the company has been involved with major working artists: Björk, Erró, Sigur Rós, Gudbergur Bergsson, Thor Vilhjálmsson, Ólafur Elíasson, Sigurdur Gudmundsson, Alain Robbe Grillet, David Lynch, Kristján Gudmundsson, Matthew Barney and Yoko Ono. Magnusson has worked closely with a team of experienced professionals: producer and film director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, Los Angeles based film producer Sigurjón Sighvatsson, writer Jón Proppé and co-director of the Serpentine Galley in London, Hans Ulrich Obrist.

Film	Credit
Epilogues2024 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Mihkel2018 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Poor Iceland2016 · Producer, Director, Screenplay, Director of Photography	Producer, Director, Screenplay, Director of Photography
60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero2011 · Director	Director
Little Cosmonaut2011 · Writer, Producer, Director	Writer, Producer, Director
Imagine Peace2010 · Producer, Director, Screenplay	Producer, Director, Screenplay
The Word Music: Jorunn Vidar2009 · Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Screenplay	Producer, Director, Director of Photography, Screenplay
The Word Music: Magnus Blondal Johannsson2009 · Director, Director of Photography, Producer, Screenplay	Director, Director of Photography, Producer, Screenplay
SShe Talks Icelandic2006 · Screenplay, Director, Producer	Screenplay, Director, Producer
Screaming Masterpiece2005 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Possibihilities2002 · Screenplay, Director, Producer	Screenplay, Director, Producer
EERRÓ - North - South - East - West2000 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director