Borgarbörn í óbyggðum

Directed by Hjalti Jón Sveinsson

In recent years, various people working with "problem youths" have been experimenting with programmes that have come under the heading of "Survival Therapy". Among other things, the treatment involves exposure to a difficult environment. City kids are transferred from their traditional habitat to the desolate interior of the country where they have to tackle manifold problems. For instance, they plod long distances across rough terrain in all kinds of weather, carrying heavy rucksacks on their backs for several days. This documentary covers a tour by British and Icelandic youngsters of the Icelandic interior ruing the summer of 1983. The young people come from London, Bristol, Liverpool and Reykjavík. All are at odds with society and have records of drug abuse, delinquency and violence.