Óskar Þór Axelsson

A native of Iceland and a graduate from NYU’s Film Program, Oskar started making short films at the age of 13.

His NYU graduation film MISTY MOUNTAIN won 3 NYU Craft Awards including for directing, and was a Student Academy Awards nominee. Oskar then wrote and directed his feature debut BLACK’S GAME which premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2012. It became the 2nd highest grossing Icelandic movie in history. His next feature, I REMEMBER YOU, was the no. 1 box office hit of 2017 in Icelandic cinemas.

Oskar directed 3 episodes of the ZDF/BBC co-produced TV series TRAPPED that premiered in 2016 to all around critical and commercial success. Premiering in 2019, he directed 2 episodes of TRAPPED 2.

In 2017 Oskar directed all 6 episodes of the TV series STELLA BLOMKVIST which has screened worldwide to great audience and critical acclaim. And in 2021 Oskar served as lead director on STELLA BLOMKVIST 2, directing 4 of the 6 episodes.

Oskar was the lead director (directing the first 4 episodes) of the international TV series SANCTUARY starring Josefin Asplund and Matthew Modine. Produced by Yellow Bird the series premiered in 2019. In 2020 Oskar directed 3 episodes of the 3rd season of RIVIERA which stars Julia Stiles and has become Sky Atlantic’s most successful original series to date.

Currently Oskar is in post-production for the movie OPERATION NAPOLEON which wrapped shooting in earlly May, an action-adventure thriller based on the best-selling novel by Iceland’s leading crime writer Arnaldur Indridason.

Among projects in development is the political thriller THE CONSPIRACY, which Oskar is co-writing with Mikael Torfason, partly based on a novel by Eiríkur Bergmann. It focuses on the Russia funded rise of national populism in Scandinavia in the wake of increased immigration from war-torn territories. Furthermore there is FEAR, an original TV series Oskar is the creator of, about two lost teenage souls that decide to become serial killers.

Oskar resides in Iceland with his wife and two children, who will either grow up to become respected academics like their mother or great filmmakers like Elia Kazan.