Blackport


Blackport is an Icelandic television drama miniseries, written by Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Mikael Torfason and produced by Vesturport in association with RÚV. The first episode of the eight part series premiered on the RÚV (TV channel) on 26 December 2021.

Synopsis

The series takes place from 1983 to 1991 and follows a married couple, Harpa and Grimur, who buy an old trawler with their childhood friends and build a small fishing empire in a village in the Westfjords of Iceland. All goes well until the Icelandic government starts enforcing new restrictive fishing quotas which turn their lives upside down and result in a feud of jealousy, greed and betrayal.

Cast and characters

Production

Filming started in 2020 and took place in Reykjavík and in the Westfjords.

Reception

According to a poll by Prósent, 57% of the Icelandic population watched the first episode of the show with 88% giving it a positive review. Following the shows première, Independence Party parliamentarian Ásmundur Friðriksson criticised the show for its portrayal of the rural people of Iceland.

Awards

In September 2021, the series won the Grand Prize at the 2021 Series Mania festival. In November it won the jury prize at the Serielizados Fest in Spain. On 2 February 2022, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond announced that Gísli Örn Gardarsson, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Mikael Torfason, writers of Blackport, were the recipients of the 2022 Nordic TV Drama Screenplay Award.

Sequel

In March 2025, it was reported that a sequel, titled Stick 'Em Up, was in the making.