Topic: Rotman Documentary Insights presents “The Day Iceland Stood Still”
Date: April 10, 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM EDT
Synopsis:
On the morning of October 24, 1975, 90 percent of Iceland’s women walked off their jobs and out of their homes. Fed up with the gaping inequity between the value of women’s labour and women’s wages, female employees, wives and mothers just stopped—stopped working, cooking, cleaning and looking after their children—together on that fall morning. The country came to an abrupt standstill, but a revolution had begun. Fascinating archives and inspiring animation accompany new interviews with the women and activists who were there that day. Nearly 50 years later, director Pamela Hogan and producer Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir reconstruct the dramatic 12 hours that reimagined what was possible for women in Iceland—and, in fact, the world. Relive the moment—or cheer along for the first time—as these gender-equity sheroes share what it was like to throw one of the most effective and dramatic protest wrenches into the patriarchal machine.
Speaker:
Pamela Hogan, Director & Producer
Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, Producer
Moderator:
Maja Djikic, Associate Professor, Director, Self-Development Laboratory, Rotman School of Management
About our Speaker:
An Emmy-winning filmmaker, journalist, and media executive, over her career, Pamela Hogan has often focused on under-reported stories about ordinary women who do the extraordinary. Her film Looks Like Laury Sounds Like Laury was named one of “The Best TV Shows of 2015” by The New York Times. She co-created, and executive produced the PBS series Women, War & Peace, directing the award-winning episode I Came to Testify, which highlighted the experiences of Bosnian women during wartime. The series reached 12 million viewers and won several awards, including the Overseas Press Club’s Murrow Award, a Television Academy Honor, and the ABA’s Silver Gavel. Hogan also served as executive producer for PBS’s Wide Angle, creating the Emmy-winning documentary Ladies First and the Time for School series. She has received a National Council for Research on Women award and teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir has produced several films on the Icelandic women’s movement, including Women in Red Stockings and The Kitchen Sink Revolution, the latter of which won the Edda Award. She directed Her Age, a series of 52 shorts celebrating Icelandic women’s history, and her latest project, the 5-part series People Like That, chronicles the 40-year struggle for gay rights in Iceland. Her film The Vasulka Effect, about video art pioneers Woody and Steina Vasulka, received multiple awards, including Best Portrait at the International Festival of Films in Canada. In 2024, Iceland’s President honoured her with the Falcon award—the “Knight’s Cross”—in recognition of her work raising awareness in the field of equality.
Event Logistics:
This event is available to attend in-person only.
Rotman Events is committed to accessibility for all people. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your full participation in this session, please email Mandi Gosling [events@rotman.utoronto.ca] no later than 2 weeks in advance of the event and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.
General Admission: In-Person Ticket Details
The event will be hosted at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Ave. Toronto, ON M5S 1J5). Your registration fee includes a seat in the theatre for the film screening and moderated Q&A.
Cancellation & Refund Policy
- Refunds will only be issued for cancellations received in writing NO LATER than 24 hours prior to the event. Please email events@rotman.utoronto.ca for processing.
- In-person registrants who do not pick up their book at the event will have 5 business days to request postal delivery by emailing us at events@rotman.utoronto.ca. All unclaimed books will be returned to the publisher after that time.
Questions: events@rotman.utoronto.ca, Mandi Gosling