A brand new music video depicting real lesbian couples showing affection for each other has become an instant hit. And for good reason.
The music video At last by Ingileif Friðriksdóttir has gotten a lot of attention. And for a good reason. The song is catchy and the video depicts lesbian couples laughing and kissing and showing their affection for each other in a very touching way. At last is the first song that Ingileif has released and she says she is amazed by it’s reception.
“I’ve never made a song before and I was not sure if I should release this one. I’m a law student and journalist and never pictured myself as a pop star,” Ingileif says. “I just started humming the song in the shower last spring when I was studying for the exams at the law department, which seems to be the time when I get the best ideas.”
Ingileif’s fiancée, María Rut Kristinsdóttir, heard the humming in the shower, really liked the song and urged Ingileif to write lyrics to it. Which she did.
“It’s my own story I’m singing about,” Ingileif explains. “How I thought I was not capable of feeling love until I met María and realized that I had a lot of love in me, I had just been trying to aim it in the wrong direction – at boys that is.”
“When I had agreed to doing a video I was determined to make it about lesbian love … I did not want professional actors to play the lovers in the video, I wanted to show real love.”
Ingileif recorded the song on her phone and after a lot og pressure from her fiancée decided to send it to the producer Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, known as a member of the group StopWaitGo. Ásgeir liked the song and started producing it and eventually persuaded Ingileif to make the video.
“When I had agreed to doing a video I was determined to make it about lesbian love,” she says. “I asked some of my friends to take part and also put a notice in the Facebook group Hinseginspjallið (the queer chat) asking women to take part. I did not want professional actors to play the lovers in the video, I wanted to show real love.”
When she had gotten enough participants Ingileif contacted the director Birta Rán Björgvinsdóttir and the cameraman Arnar Steinn Einarsson, gathered all the lesbian couples and they shot the video in one afternoon.
“It was a little weird at first,” Ingileif admits. “But Birta was so great at directing us that everyone soon stopped being self-conscious and just let their love for each other shine through. It was great.”
The last frame of the video shows Ingileif and María and she says there was never any other option for the ending. “The lyrics are about our story, our love, and I thought it was very fitting to close the song with us together,” Ingileif says with a broad smile. “It is the perfect ending.”
The video has been an instant hit, getting 10.000 views in a few hours and Ingileif is stunned by the good reception. “I never imagined it would be such a hit,” she says. “But it has been a wonderful experience and I’m really grateful for the good reviews the video has been getting. I was a bit shy about putting my self out there in this way, but it has really been amazing.”
Ingileif and María Rut are no beginners in promoting queer matters as they have run the hugely popular snachat account Hinseginleikinn (everyday queer) for almost two years. That idea also came to Ingileif as she was studying for the spring exams, and in June 2016 she had gotten enough people to tell their stories to be able to start snapping.
“Now there have been about 300 snappers in Hinseginleikinn, each one telling their own story of being queer and the reception has been great. There are always thousands of viewers and we get a lot of questions after each story. I’m so proud of all this people who have stepped up and shared their stories to help young queer people coming out and tackling the process of showing their real selves to the world. I think it has been a great help to many viewers.”
“I wish I had seen something like that when I was young and didn’t know anything about my feelings. I didn’t come out til I was twenty years old, because I simply didn’t understand who I was.”
To follow-up the success of the snapchat account Ingileif has started making web series for the Icelandic National Television, RÚV, which will be in the same lane. She is really excited about the project and has high hopes for it’s success.
“I think there is a need for shows like that,” she explains. “I wish I had seen something like that when I was young and didn’t know anything about my feelings. I didn’t come out til I was twenty years old, because I simply didn’t understand who I was.”
With the success of the music video Ingileif has started to think about further career as a musician. Is there another song in the making?
“There are a few songs that I have written that I might possibly release in due time,” she says. “But it’s all so new to me that I have not made any definite plans about it. But who knows, maybe I will release more songs eventually. You just have to wait and see.”
