Last Thursday on Oct. 2 the Blueberry Soup Screening Tour, which has been visiting campuses around the country including Stanford, Harvard and Duke, made a pit stop at Le Moyne.
The documentary focuses on the constitutional change of Iceland after the 2008 financial crisis; which according to an editor of one of Iceland’s few magazines was “like 9/11,” in that new information just kept coming out and the economic devastation was comparable to an enormous amount of death within the country. Through a rather unexpected group of individuals, the film grasps Iceland’s reinvention of democracy through a rewriting of the constitution.
Although the film’s Director, Eileen Jerrett, originally intended to capture the expected artistic movement flowing from an ethereal to a more political movement rooted in social commentary, she found the politics and lack of media attention much more interesting. No “known” type of network or media acknowledged this process in Iceland.
Jerrett said the purpose of the film was not to be political, it was to be a “comfortable” topic of interest that would spark more social commentary—thus the title, Blueberry Soup, which is a cold comfort food of Iceland. She described herself as an optimist, saying she wanted to make a positive movie. As the director she didn’t want a documentary with a gloomy, negative title.
In the film, this statement was attested by a group of people, from various Icelandic backgrounds, who drafted a new constitution. With the devastating economic collapse, many of the individuals agreed that a resolution had to be made quickly. Unfortunately, after a great tsunami of national support, Parliament voted against the new constitution.
Many believe the media played a large role in the stunning voting results. For one, there are very few media sources in Iceland; and the ones that are available are very much under the influence of large corporations. Secondly, the dates for voting at the polls were constantly changing, which resulted in a lack of interest. However, the largest cause for an uproar against the Icelandic media was the fact that a vote was said to have been held by Parliament, which was false. Although a transparency has now been somewhat enforced as a consequence, the freedom of the media is still very limited.
Many also believe that the lack of accountability for the constitution creates a poignant invalidity to it. Since the new constitution was not written by the government and was instead written by professors, doctors, lawyers, etc. it is not an acceptable document.
Today, Iceland is still without a new constitution, leaving many individuals asking: What now? With a democracy ignoring its people and headlines from IceNews such as: Swedish Police Arrest Nappy Smugglers, it’s no wonder why Icelanders have lost faith. Nevertheless, Jerrett plans on aiding the people in any way she can. That’s why she’s utilizing this tour as a way to create awareness of the issues and to get individuals to question how they can improve not only the lives of the Icelanders, but those of themselves.
