"I just couldn't believe that these women in 1975 had been able to come together in this way, and change their country radically," director Pamela Hogan said
Elisabetta Bianchini
Sat, May 4, 2024
On October 24, 1975, 90% of Iceland’s women took the “day off,” holding demonstrations in villages and towns throughout the country. The gathering in Reykjavik was the largest in Iceland’s history. Activist Gudrun Erlendsdottir is on stage.
In 1975, 90 per cent of women in Iceland walked out of their jobs and homes, taking a day off from working, doing any housework, caring for their children, leaving men scrambling. In the film The Day Iceland Stood Still (part of the 2024 Hot Docs Festival), director Pamela Hogan and producer Hrafnhildur "Hrabba" Gunnarsdóttir chronicle the day that women brought Iceland to a standstill, started by the Red Stockings.
Today, Iceland is consistently among the top places in the world to be a woman. As we head into the 50th anniversary of this Day Off, the women who participated in this revolutionary action in Iceland recall what happened during those 24 hours.
Hogan first learned about this story on a family trip to Iceland, tellingYahoo Canada that her head "exploded" hearing about this day in 1975.
"I just couldn't believe that these women in 1975 had been able to come together in this way, and change their country radically over the years, really start a revolution in 24 hours," she said. "So I just thought it was one of the best stories I've ever heard and couldn't believe that no one had ever made a documentary about it."
"I learned quickly that they used humour strategically to open people's ears to the movement and I'd never heard of humour associated with feminism."
Gunnarsdóttir admitted that it was "surprising" to get a phone call from an American who wanted to tell this story.
"As an American, I'm so mindful that we had a very strong feminist movement at the exact same time that the women in Iceland were doing this, and then ours has completely stalled," Hogan added. "So I think I was just fascinated by the fact that they have just kept going."
At a Women’s Congress in Reykjavik in June 1975 attended by several hundred women from differing political perspectives, a group from the radical feminist Red Stockings movement shocked the crowd by proposing that all women in Iceland should go on strike for one day on United Nations Day - October 24th.
'Having to face a presidential candidate in the U.S. that is going to harm a lot of progress'
Throughout the film, the Icelandic women talk about how in the 1970s, a middle-class woman was encouraged to be a housewife. Many didn't have money of their own and if they did work, they received much less money than men, and women were told they couldn't have jobs like being a lawyer, or a farmer. The women who started this movement were even depicted as "trolls" in editorial cartoons.
As it's said in the film, some women who were housewives felt they were being "attacked" for how they were living their lives. But at the core of this movement was wanting women to be able to choose what their lives looked like.
In 2024, where a lot of women's rights issues have seemingly backtracked, particularly in North America, including abortion rights and women have autonomy over their bodies, Hogan believes now is a particularly great time for people to see this film.
"Look what's happening in the United States with abortion rights, and women all over the world actually have already been inspired by what the Icelandic women did," she stressed. "The Polish women had a huge strike in 2017, Spanish women in 2018, so I think it's very inspirational about what people can do when they join hands."
"And not even just for women's rights, for anything. I think Icelandic people have a real sense, maybe from being a small nation, of the power of the individual. It's good for the rest of us to be reminded of that."
Director Pamela Hogan with activist Gudrun Jonsdottir, a participant in the film, standing in Reykjavik's Laekjartorg Square, where the demonstration on October 24, 1975 took place.
"It's very interesting to be looking at the repeat history of having to face a presidential candidate in the U.S. that is going to harm a lot of progress," Gunnarsdóttir added. "And with the abortion rights being rolled back in America, Iceland's legislature has actually finally increased and secured the rights."
"It's amazing to look at that. Of course, being from Iceland, I know, what the things are that need still to be fixed, or I have some vague idea, but we are extremely aware of that. No, the fight isn't quite over, you have to keep at it to make sure that things are not rolled back."
Hogan also highlighted that stories like The Day Iceland Stood Still need to be told, in order to ensure rights aren't rolled back.
"The younger generation doesn't know what it used to be like for women," she said. "So if you don't tell the story, it never happened."
"I think we also felt very privileged to be telling the story now, and really understanding that it was a race against time."
Using a combination of interviews, archival footage and brilliant animation, The Day Iceland Stood Still is a fascinating, captivating and humorous look at this inspirational movement, that's a necessary watch today.
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