Director: Gaukur Úlfarsson

Region: Iceland

Year of Production: 2010

Running Time: 93min

Jon Gnarr is an iconoclastic Icelandic comedian who has won a large audience at home for his offbeat comic style, and in 2009, after the global economic crisis hit Iceland hard, he decided to run for mayor of Reykjavik, largely as a prank. Filmmaker Gaukur Ulfarsson uses newsreel footage and material shot by fans and supporters to chronicle Jon Gnarr’s introduction to Icelandic politics.

Gnarr launched his own political party, The Best Party (their slogan: “Hooray for all kinds of things!”), and created a purposefully absurd political platform in which, among other things, he promised to build a Disney theme park in Iceland, eliminate all elected official who don’t faithfully watch The Wire, and increase the number of polar bears in the city’s zoos. Gnarr’s campaign won him a lot of laughs, but surprisingly also gained popular support -- early polls had him claiming 13% of the vote, and as election day drew nearer, his campaign team of punk rockers, bohemians and folks sick of the status quo were in the position of being legitimate spoilers in the mayoral race, with the other candidates as a loss for how to run against him. Filmmaker Gaukur Úlfarsson uses newsreel footage and material shot by fans and supporters to chronicle Jon Gnarr’s introduction to Icelandic politics in the documentary Gnarr. The film received its North American premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

Hot Docs International Film Festival (Canada) 2011

Tribeca Film Festival (USA) 2011

Gaukur Úlfarsson has established himself as one of Iceland’s most dangerous and outspoken directors over the last decade. He has directed and produced many television shows over the years, his most notable being The Silvia Night Show, in which he plays the show’s host, Silvia Night. Recently, Úlfarsson has done work for the National TV where he has directed and produced documentaries and news-related shows.