By John Corrado

The 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival runs from April 25th to May 5th in Toronto

Director Pamela Hogan’s documentary The Day Iceland Stood Still recounts the events of October 24th, 1975, when the majority of women in Iceland decided to protest by taking the day off work, to prove their importance to the country’s economy and society.

Hogan’s film lets organizers and participants from the protest offer an in-their-own-words account of the historic day, as well as the organization leading up to it. Through archival images and illustrative animation, the documentary shows how the idea for the strike was born out of the initial Red Stockings Movement, fighting for equal pay and equal treatment in Icelandic society (for example, women could only join the farmer’s association if they were widows, and could be typists at the newspaper company, but rarely reporters).

We get plenty of asides from the day, like how more conservative working women were uncomfortable with the use of the word “strike” but happy to take part in a “day off,” and the chambermaids on a ship who wanted to join the movement. At a brief 70 minutes, a few elements do feel glossed over (such as the one man who joined the movement early on who is only briefly featured). But the film does a decent job of showing the doors that this protest helped open up for women in the country (Iceland elected their first female president just five years later). It’s an enjoyable, well-produced history lesson.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

The Day Iceland Stood Still screens as part of the 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here.