About Rjómi -
Underdog
Documentary
Hilmar was going to move from Norway, back to his home country, Iceland, in 2012. But little did he know that moving back with his whole family, including the family dog, english bull terrier Rjómi, would prove to be the challenge of his life.
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Iceland has a list of banned dog breeds, however english bull terrier is not on that list. Despite that, Icelandic authority decided to ban Hilmar to bring his dog to Iceland, and from then on Hilmars 5 year battle with the system began.
Freyja Kristinsdóttir
director
I first heard about Hilmar and Rjómi on Facebook. Since I am a veterinarian and a dog trainer, this case caught my attention, but my first reaction was to brush it off as one of Iceland's Breed specific legislation cases. However, when I looked more closely at the list of banned breeds, it was clear that English Bull Terrier was not one of the banned breeds in Iceland. So why was this dog not allowed into the country? My curiosity was intrigued.
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I finished Documentary filmmaking school in Denmark in 2015, around the same time I heard about Rjómi, the english bull terrier. So I started wondering if this case could be my first documentary. While diving into the case files, I became more dedicated to the project, because this story was so complex and interesting for all canine enthusiasts like myself. After my first meeting with Hilmar and Rjómi, in springtime 2016, there was no turning back, and now 2 years later we're getting ready for premiere.
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"We will never leave our dog behind.
Not a chance."
