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‘On Time and Water’ Film Tracks Icelandic Glacier Vanishing

6/16/2026

40 6 Full Breakdown

Summary

Sara Dosa Documents Glacier

Filmmaker Sara Dosa released a documentary about author-activist Andri Snær Magnason and the 2014 loss of the Okjökull glacier.
The film shares its title with Magnason’s 2019 book On Time and Water.
A bronze plaque with Magnason’s “A Letter to the Future” warning sits at the glacier’s former site.
The documentary follows generations of Magnason’s family, using his grandfather Árni Kjartansson’s 1950s home videos and photos to show glacier ties.

Summary

Dan Deacon Scores

The documentary blends archival footage with new glacier shots to contrast historic and current conditions.
Dan Deacon composed the film’s musical score to support its emotional arc.
Pablo Álvarez-Mesa provided contemporary glacier photographs that heighten the visual impact.
Reviewers argue that the large-screen format makes the glacier imagery more visceral, reinforcing the climate-change urgency message.

History

Historical Context

In June 1992 the Rio Earth Summit adopted the UNFCCC, which 154 nations signed on 12 June to stabilize greenhouse-gas concentrations. The convention entered force in 1994 and set the long-term goal of limiting warming, a target still unmet. Sara Dosa’s documentary, featuring Andri Snær Magnason, shows Iceland’s Okjökull glacier disappearing in 2014, visualizing the summit’s warning.

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Sara Dosa Documents Glacier

Filmmaker Sara Dosa released a documentary about author-activist Andri Snær Magnason and the 2014 loss of the Okjökull glacier.
The film shares its title with Magnason’s 2019 book On Time and Water.
A bronze plaque with Magnason’s “A Letter to the Future” warning sits at the glacier’s former site.
The documentary follows generations of Magnason’s family, using his grandfather Árni Kjartansson’s 1950s home videos and photos to show glacier ties.

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