Icelandic producer Eva Maria Daniels of What Maisie Knew, Joe Bell, and Hold the Dark passed away at 43. She died in London on Friday after battling cancer.

Daniels was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in March 2020. The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. However, she announced to The Hollywood Reporter a year later that she was cancer-free. Director Börkur Sigthorsson said, “She played her cards close to her chest. She didn’t seek recognition when she had success. She didn’t seek pity when she suffered. I will miss her friendship greatly, but mostly I will miss seeing what she would have done next.”

Daniel’s most recent project was being an executive producer on Reality starring Sydney Sweeney. She also was an executive producer on Time Out of Mind (2014) and The Dinner (2017). Daniels had prosperous partnerships with producer Riva Marker. Together they produced five films.

Daniels was born on July 5, 1979 in Reykjavik. She studied philosophy and business at the University of Iceland. Later she accomplished a film production degree in 2003 at KBH Film & Fotoskole in Copenhagen. Daniels first worked as a producer for postproduction outfits The Mill and Company 3.

In 2010 in New York, she started Eva Daniels Productions. The Romantics (2010) and Goats (2012) were the first two films produced by her company. She was also an executive producer on the film End of Sentence (2019).

In 2021, Daniels opened an art gallery for artists from Iceland in Switzerland. Daniels said, “During my career in film, I collected art, on a slow pace. It had always given me so much joy. When I was living in L.A., I was going to try to combine film and art, and I even hosted a few art shows in California in the past with some actors that I was working with. During treatment, I returned to that question of how to incorporate more joy. Even though film development is the greatest thing ever, it can be slow and painful. I also have a son, and I thought, ‘How do I bring him into my work life and spend more time with him?”