Ugla Hauksdóttir
Ugla Hauksdóttir | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 July 1989 |
| Occupations | Film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Website | uglahauks.com |
Ugla Hauksdóttir (born 31 July 1989) is an Icelandic film and television director and screenwriter. She is known for directing episodes of international productions including Hanna, Snowfall, The Power, and Alien: Earth. She also directed episodes of the Icelandic series Trapped. Her debut feature film is The Fires (Eldarnir).[1][2][3][4][5]
Early life and education
Ugla studied photography and experimental filmmaking at the Cooper Union in New York City, later earning an MFA in screenwriting and directing from Columbia University.[6]
Career
Ugla began her career directing short films, including Salt (2014),[7] How Far She Went (2017),[8] and Sealskin (2020).[9]
In 2016, she received the Directors Guild of America Student Film Award in the "Best Woman Student Filmmaker" category for How Far She Went.[10] That same year, she was named a Nordic Talent to Watch by the Nordisk Film & TV Fond and became the first Icelandic woman to join the Directors Guild of America.[11]
She directed two episodes of Trapped in its second season, joining a production team led by Baltasar Kormákur that aimed to increase the number of women directors in Icelandic television.[12]
Her international television work includes directing episodes of the Amazon Prime series Hanna, FX’s Snowfall, and Amazon MGM Studios’s The Power.[13][14]
Ugla’s debut feature film is The Fires, adapted from the bestselling novel Eldarnir (The Fires: Love and Other Disasters) by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir. The film is produced by Netop Films (Iceland) and Madants (Poland), with international sales handled by Bankside Films.[15][16][17][4][5]
Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Type | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | The Fires (Eldarnir) | Feature film | Director, writer |
| 2020 | Sealskin | Short film | Director, writer |
| 2017 | How Far She Went | Short film | Director, writer |
| 2014 | Salt | Short film | Director, writer |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Episodes | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Alien: Earth | Director | "Observation" (S1E4); "The Fly" (S1E6) | FX / Disney |
| 2023 | The Power | Director | "The World Is on Fu*king Fire" (S1E2); "A New Organ" (S1E3); "Scarlet Minnow" (S1E5); "Sparklefingers" (S1E6) | Amazon |
| 2021 | Snowfall | Director | "All the Way Down" (S4E3) | FX |
| 2020 | Hanna | Director | "Welcome Mia" (S2E4); "A Way to Grieve" (S2E5); "You’re With Us Now" (S2E6) | Amazon |
| 2019 | Trapped | Director | "Episode #2.4"; "Episode #2.7" | RÚV |
References
- ^ "Alien: Earth release schedule – When is episode 8 out?". RadioTimes. September 2025. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
- ^ "Observation – Episode 4". FX Networks. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
- ^ "The Fly – Episode 6 (Official Podcast)". FX Networks. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
- ^ a b "Eldarnir (2025)". Kvikmyndir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 24 September 2025.
- ^ a b "[Plakat] ELDARNIR kemur í bíó 11. september". Klapptre (in Icelandic). 20 August 2025. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
- ^ "Ugla Hauksdóttir". Amazon MGM Studios Press. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
- ^ Guðrún Ansnes (24 May 2016). "Hjartað leitar alltaf heim". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). p. 30. Retrieved 28 August 2025 – via Tímarit.is.
- ^ Birgir Örn Steinarsson (20 May 2016). "Stuttmynd Uglu Hauks verðlaunuð". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 August 2025.
- ^ "Sealskin". Icelandic Film Centre. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ^ "Woman Student Filmmaker Award-winner: Ugla Hauksdóttir (Columbia University), 'How Far She Went'". Directors Guild of America. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ^ "Kormákur brings more women aboard Trapped 2". Nordisk Film & TV Fond. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ^ Sylvía Rut Sigfúsdóttir (22 October 2017). "Ugla leikstýrir tveimur þáttum af Ófærð: „Forréttindi að fá þetta tækifæri"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 August 2025.
- ^ Þór Steinarsson (17 January 2020). "Ugla fær sitt stærsta hlutverk á ferlinum". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 August 2025.
- ^ "Ugla Hauksdóttir". Icelandic Film Centre. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ^ Hopewell, John (1 November 2024). "Ugla Hauksdóttir's The Fires being sold by Bankside at AFM". Cineuropa. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (15 May 2024). "Bankside boards hot Icelandic volcano thriller The Fires". Screen Daily. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (6 February 2025). "Pilou Asbæk joins The Fires; pre-sales heat up for Bankside". Screen Daily. Retrieved 9 August 2025.