WRITTEN BY: Aleksander Huser
When the Light Breaks by Rúnar Rúnarsson won the top prize for best film as well as four other awards, while Baltasar Kormákur's Touch scooped the highest amount of prizes with ten awards.
On Wednesday March 26, the gala ceremony of the Icelandic Edda Awards 2025 took place at the Hilton Hotel in Reykjavík.
The Eddas are the country’s most prominent film awards, presented annually by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy. The awards for television productions will be presented in May by the broadcasters Síminn Television, Sýn and RÚV.
The evening’s biggest winner was Baltasar Kormákur’s Touch (Snerting), with a total amount of ten awards. These included the award for best screenplay, written by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson (based on his novel by the same name) and director Kormákur, as well as Egill Ólafsson and Pálmi Kormákur winning Actor of the Year in the categories for leading and supporting role, respectively. Touch is produced by Agnes Johansen and Kormákur for RVK Studios, and was the Icelandic nominee for the Nordic Council Film Prize in 2024.
The top prize for Film of the Year went to When the Light Breaks (Ljósbrot), written and directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson, who also won the award for Director of the Year. In the acting categories, Elín Hall won Actress of the Year in a Leading Role and Katla Njálsdóttir for Supporting Role for their performances in the When the Light Breaks. Also winning the award for Visual Effects of the Year, the film produced by Heather Millard from Compass Films together with Rúnarsson got altogether five Edda awards.
Both Touch and When the Light Breaks have received support from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
In addition, Rúnar Rúnarsson’s O won the award for Short Film of the Year.
Worth highlighting is also that the award for Foreign Film of the Year went to the Norwegian film Loveable (Elskling), written and directed by Norwegian/Icelandic Lilja Ingolfsdottir, in competition with All of Us Strangers, Perfect Days, Poor Things and The Substance as the other nominated international films.
Among other winners, the Discovery of the Year was awarded Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter, director of the short film Fár, while Egill Ólafsson and Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir received the Icelandic Film and Television Academy's Honorary Awards for their pioneering contributions to Icelandic film culture.
Full list of Edda Award winners 2025:
Film of the Year: When the Light Breaks
Documentary of the Year: When the Mountain Roars (Fjallið það öskrar)
Documentary Short of the Year: Kirsuberjatómatar
Short Film of the Year: O
Children and Youth Film of the Year: Geltu
Foreign Film of the Year: Loveable
Actress of the Year in a Leading Role: Elín Hall for When the Light Breaks
Actress of the Year in a Supporting Role: Katla Njálsdóttir for When the Light Breaks
Actor of the Year in a Leading Role: Egill Ólafsson for Touch
Actor of the Year in a Supporting Role: Pálmi Kormákur for Touch
Costume Design of the Year: Margrét Einarsdóttir for Touch
Makeup of the Year: Ásta Hafþórsdóttir for Touch
Production Design of the Year: Sunneva Ása Weisshappel for Touch
Visual Effects of the Year: Jörundur Rafn Arnarson and Christian Sjöstedt for When the Light Breaks
Sound of the Year: Kjartan Kjartansson for Touch
Music (Original Score) of the Year: Högni Egilsson for Touch
Editing of the Year: Sigurður Eyþórsson for Touch
Cinematography of the Year: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson for Touch
Screenplay of the Year: Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson and Baltasar Kormákur for Touch
Director of the Year: Rúnar Rúnarsson for When the Light Breaks
Discovery of the Year: Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter
Honorary Awards: Egill Ólafsson and Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir
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