Iceland
Iceland lists Canada as one of three countries with which it holds bilateral audiovisual co-production agreements — the others being the United Kingdom and France. That is a short list for a country increasingly sought after as a production destination, and the specificity of Canada's inclusion reflects a deliberate bilateral relationship rather than an incidental one. Iceland's screen industry has undergone a structural shift over the past decade: from a country valued almost entirely for its locations and production services, it has become one building an international originals industry, with Icelandic production companies now actively seeking creative co-production partners rather than simply hosting foreign shoots. The Icelandic diaspora in Canada is small — a few thousand people, concentrated mainly in Manitoba and Alberta, with roots in the late nineteenth-century settlement of New Iceland on the shores of Lake Winnipeg — but that settlement is among the oldest Scandinavian diaspora communities in the country and has a documented cultural continuity. The corridor's current relevance is less about diaspora connection than about the structural alignment between Icelandic companies building international slates and Canadian producers seeking European co-production partners at a manageable scale.
The Production Rebate is administered by the Icelandic Film Centre on behalf of the Ministry of Industries. Applications are submitted to the Ministry before the production start date; the rebate is paid as a post-production cash refund after audit of qualifying costs. The 35% enhanced rate (introduced June 2022) applies on all qualifying Icelandic spend when the production meets all three scale thresholds, not just the spend above the threshold; HBO's True Detective: Night Country (2023) was the first major US production to access it. Under the twinning provision added by the 2003 amendment, two separate productions — one Canadian-majority, one Icelandic-majority — can be linked as a pair and treated collectively as a co-production. Each side's participation may be limited to a financial contribution alone, without requiring artistic or technical integration. Twinned productions must be distributed under comparable conditions in both countries; productions can be simultaneous or consecutive provided no more than one year separates the completion of the first from the start of the second. Competent authorities must approve the arrangement.
Production concentrates in Reykjavík, where the industry's studio infrastructure has expanded substantially since 2018. RVK Studios — founded by director and producer Baltasar Kormákur — operates three stages totalling approximately 6,500m² at Gufunes, on the edge of the city, with equipment rental, VFX and post-production, and production services alongside its own originals operation. Truenorth, founded in 2003, operates Fossa Studios (two stages, ~6,000m²) and is the country's largest service company, with credits including Batman Begins, Prometheus, Interstellar, and True Detective: Night Country. RVK Studios and Truenorth announced a partnership with the City of Reykjavík to construct four additional stages totalling approximately 8,800m² at Gufunes, bringing combined studio capacity to a level that can accommodate multiple large productions simultaneously. Iceland has fewer purpose-built soundstages than some European competitors — warehouses have been repurposed for productions including True Detective — but the situation is improving rapidly.
The production companies most relevant to a bilateral co-production relationship are Truenorth's originals arm and Glassriver. Truenorth has moved beyond service work into international originals: The Valhalla Murders was the first Icelandic co-production acquired by Netflix and also sold to the BBC; The Darkness was produced with CBS Studios International for SkyShowtime. Truenorth is coproducing Death on the Island (also known as Diplomat Dies) with Canada's Blink49 Studios — confirmed by Deadline in June 2025 — based on a book by Icelandic former First Lady Elize Reed; the project's treaty co-production status is not specified in available sources, but it represents the most directly documented current Canada-Iceland bilateral activity. Glassriver, founded to produce internationally-financed Icelandic content, has credits including As Long As We Live (sold internationally by Eccho Rights), Black Sands (Berlinale Series 2025), and the Iceland-Portugal co-production Cold Haven; it launched a dedicated film division in August 2025. Both companies have established distribution relationships with international buyers and are actively building European co-production networks.
Icelandic directors with established international profiles include Baltasar Kormákur, whose films include Everest and Beast and whose Netflix series Katla has had international distribution; Valdimar Jóhannsson, whose debut Lamb received the Prize of Originality at Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2021; Hlynur Pálmason, whose Godland premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2022; and Rúnar Rúnarsson, whose films Echo and Volcano have circulated at major European festivals. The country produces 8–10 feature films annually alongside 3–4 fiction TV series.
Iceland's locations — glaciers, lava fields, geothermal landscapes, fjords, black sand beaches, and the midnight sun or polar night depending on season — have made it a destination for productions across multiple genres. The 2024 Olsberg SPI economic impact study commissioned by Iceland's Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs found that incentive-supported film and television projects more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, with the rebate generating approximately 6.80 ISK in additional economic value for every krona spent — directly enabling a shift from service-only activity toward domestically-originated content with international financing.
Why this corridor
The structural case for this corridor is specific. Iceland's production companies — particularly Truenorth and Glassriver — are actively building international originals slates and looking for co-production partners. The country is large enough to have developed a professional industry with experienced producers and a track record at international festivals, and small enough that the bilateral relationship with a Canadian partner is not lost in an already-crowded development pipeline. The Death on the Island project with Blink49 Studios is a current signal that producers on both sides recognise the corridor's potential.
The twinning provision in the 2003 amendment is worth understanding before approaching this corridor. For producers who want to establish a financial bilateral relationship without requiring the full creative integration that treaty co-production typically demands — useful when two projects have distinct subject matter but the producers want to build the relationship first — twinning provides a legitimate pathway that most Canadian bilateral treaties do not offer.
The documentary angle is also present. Iceland's IFC funds documentary projects through the Icelandic Film Fund, and Icelandic documentary filmmakers have coproduced with European partners including Estonian, French, and Nordic companies. The base rate rebate (25%, no minimum spend) is accessible for lower-budget documentary projects that would not reach the 35% threshold.
Where to start
If you're a researcher, student, or filmmaker interested in this corridor, here's where to begin.
Start here
The Icelandic Film Centre (icelandicfilmcentre.is) is the primary institutional contact for IFC grants and for connecting with Icelandic production companies. Film in Iceland (filminiceland.com) — run by Business Iceland — handles the rebate scheme and maintains an updated directory of Icelandic production service companies and studios. For treaty co-production enquiries, both the IFC and the Ministry of Industries are relevant; the IFC's contact page lists current staff by programme area.
For documentary
The IFC's general grant scheme covers documentary at development, production, and post-production stages. Nordisk Panorama, the Nordic documentary and short film festival held annually in Malmö, is the most accessible Nordic documentary market for connecting with Icelandic documentary producers. The IFC's international partners list is a useful directory for identifying which Icelandic companies are already engaged in international documentary co-production.
For animation
Iceland participates in the Nordic Animation network. The IFC funds animation alongside live-action; the base rebate rate applies to animation without additional requirements at the 25% level. Nordic Animation (nordicanimation.com) covers the Icelandic animation sector alongside Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway.
Canadian institutions
The Embassy of Canada in Copenhagen covers Iceland; there is no resident Canadian embassy in Reykjavík. Telefilm Canada administers the treaty on the Canadian side. The CMF's international incentives programme does not list an Iceland-specific initiative. Hot Docs in Toronto is the most practically relevant Canadian institutional contact for documentary-focused corridor development — Icelandic documentary producers are present at the festival's international market.
Cultural signal
Lamb (Valdimar Jóhannsson, 2021) — Prize of Originality at Un Certain Regard, Cannes — is the entry point into contemporary Icelandic fiction filmmaking: a debut feature that emerged from the domestic production ecosystem, found international financing through A24, and circulated widely enough to establish Jóhannsson as an international voice. For a signal of the television production culture, The Valhalla Murders (Truenorth, Netflix/RÚV, 2019) demonstrates what Icelandic producers can structure for international streaming distribution from a domestic originals base.If you're an Icelandic filmmaker or producer developing a project with international reach — or a Canadian producer looking for a first conversation about this corridor — we'd like to hear from you.
contact@rubedo.ca