Film Alum Katla Sólnes '24 Receives a Prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowship for 'Eruption'

Film alum Katla Sólnes '24 has been awarded a prestigious 2025-2026 Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The fellowship is granted to talented emerging screenwriters who will benefit from the mentorship, resources, and networking opportunities provided by the Academy.  

Sólnes was nominated for the fellowship program by Columbia University for her film in development, Eruption. Set in the moody, atmospheric highlands of 1970s Iceland, the film follows a geologist's wife as she finds her marriage tested when a wily American student arrives, stirring tensions as volatile as the surrounding volcanic landscape. 

Eruption has already been garnering attention in the industry. With this film, Sólnes was selected for the 2025 Sundance Screenwriter Lab and was awarded a Sloan Grant which provided her with a $17,000 prize in support of the film. 

"We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2025–2026 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, a remarkable group of diverse and international new writers who represent the future of storytelling," said Academy Governor Kim Taylor-Coleman. "This continues the Academy’s longtime commitment to championing emerging talent from across the world."

"Nurturing a script, sustaining a project, and maintaining the wind beneath its sails is one of the most crucial and challenging aspects I’ve found in working on my first feature," shared Sólnes. "In the chaotic whirlwind of post-capitalism, finding respite to actually work on your passion project is rare…but fellowships such as the Nicholl Fellowship give writers (beyond immeasurable advice, networking, feathers to adorn your project with, etc) some much needed stability and peace to focus whole-heartedly on your writing. I’ve yet to discover what possible fruitful endeavors may come from this fantastic opportunity, but being recognized by an institution such as the Academy has been a dream come true, and I’m tremendously grateful to Columbia for nominating me, and my professors and cohort for their immense aid while workshopping Eruption (in particular, my mentor [Professor of Professional Practice] Katherine Dieckmann.) Thank you all."

Through the Nicholl Fellowship, Sólnes will have the opportunity to "participate in events with Oscar® nominees and winners, including pitch workshops, media training sessions, meet-and-greets, and more. Fellows also receive ongoing career advancement support through the Gold Alumni Network Program, which provides continued access, opportunity, professional development and education for alumni of the Academy’s global talent development programs. All Nicholl fellowship recipient scripts are archived in the Academy Collection and are accessible through the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library."

Named after Iceland’s most dangerous volcano, Sólnes is an Icelandic writer-director. She is a Sundance Screenwriters Lab fellow with her feature, Eruption, which was produced by Anton Máni Svansson of Still Vivid Productions. Her work is environmentally-driven, juxtaposing intimate and complex relationship stories against the volatile landscape of Iceland. Sólnes holds an MFA in Screenwriting from Columbia University and has been the recipient of support from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Icelandic Film Fund, and Indian Paintbrush. She has a diversified background in filmmaking including documentary feature film and advertising. She was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Screenwriting at Columbia University. Her short films Whim Rules the Child and Weather the Field and With the Arrival of Spring have screened and won awards at festivals worldwide.