Cinema admissions in Iceland rose by 7% to 1.7m during 2009, with total box office receipts up 12% to $12m (ISK1.5bn).

According to data from industry body Iceland Cinema Now, six local features, including low-budget comedy hit Thorsteinn Gunnar Bjarnason’s Jóhannes, and six documentaries accounted for 10.3% of the box office. Twentieth Century Fox’s Avatar was the year’s highest grossing film taking $431,549 (ISK51.5m) slightly more than The Hangover, although it was seen by fewer people (44,429 against 60,569).

However, Ragnar Bragason’s comedy-drama Mr Bjarnfredarson (pictured), based on a popular TV show, kept Avatar off the top spot and has become Iceland’s highest grossing opening film, selling 18,582 tickets in three days.

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