There is a great deal of growth in Icelandic filmmaking around these films, as 8 films, both documentaries and feature films, will premiere at RIFF that either have Icelandic directors or are Icelandic productions.
First, the party's opening image should be mentioned. Wolka which is by the beloved director who has now passed away Arna Olaf Asgeirsson. Many are eagerly awaiting its release, as Árni was highly regarded in the film industry here at home, and the film provides insight into the Polish community in Iceland, which has been growing rapidly over the years. Wolka is an Icelandic-Polish collaboration and almost only Polish actors play roles in the film. But the film is directed by Árni, and the music, costumes, set design and production are in the hands of Icelanders.
Of these eight films, two are Icelandic feature films; the films Owls after Teit Magnusson and Grief after Asgeir Sigurdsson and Anton Karl KristensenBoth are the directors' debuts in making a full-length feature film. The film Owls is about a widower Pál meets a woman who is being abused by her boyfriend. While trying to help her, he has to face his past. Harmur is about a young man who is forced to search for his younger brother in the underworld of Reykjavík when their mother dies. Harmur has already been selected for several film festivals and received the ,,Directorial Discovery Award'' at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival.
Three Icelandic documentaries will have their world premieres in the category at the festival, and they couldn't be more different. The film Not the only one after Asthildi Kjartansdottir is a somber story about Edna Lupita and shows how it is possible to live a normal and meaningful life despite being on the verge of suicide. In the film Heroes of the Day after Magneu Björk Valdimarsdóttir We meet four women who have lived in Iceland for twenty years. Born in Bosnia, Jamaica, Poland and Turkey – they all have their own stories of what brought them here and what it's like to be an expatriate Icelander in Iceland today.
The third documentary Burial after Anna Maria Bogadottir is of a completely different nature, as it deals with the Industrial Bank's mansion on Lækjargata, which was built in the 1960s in the spirit of international futuristic ideas. More than half a century later, we witness the demolition and dissolution of the bank with the daily life of the city in the background.
Finally, there are two full-length feature films that are Icelandic-foreign collaborative projects. On the one hand, A small butterfly or Lille Sommerfugl in the original language. An Icelandic-Danish collaboration about a stubborn pig farmer and his wife who throw a party on their farm to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary. There are many secrets within the family, and as the evening progresses, they are revealed.
However, it is RIFF final film, the big movie Margaret, Queen of the North. The film is the most expensive film ever produced in the Nordic countries and is a joint Nordic project. The director is Charlotte Sieling who directed, among others, The Killing, The Bridge and Borgen. Trine Dyrholm plays the lead role and actresses Halldóra Geirharðs and Tinna Hrafns play supporting roles. Trine will be the guest of honor at the festival and will be present at the screening.
Wolka
When Anna is released from prison in Poland after 15 years behind bars, she has only one goal in mind – to find a woman named Dorota. She searches for her in her old neighborhood in Warsaw, but most of the people she once knew have gone elsewhere. When Anna is about to give up on her search, she discovers, to her great disappointment, that Dorota had moved to Iceland a few years earlier. Anna drops everything and travels to Iceland on a fake passport, knowing that she could be sacrificing her freedom by taking the risk.
Owls
Paul has been isolated since the death of his wife and daughter. He meets Elizabeth, who is being abused by her boyfriend, and tries to help her by offering her shelter. When the abusive boyfriend knocks on the door to pick up Elizabeth, Paul is forced to confront his own past as he is forced to step between them.
Grief
Óliver is a 20-year-old boy who works a day job while also helping his mother support herself. After being sober for a good while, his mother falls ill, causing their relationship with his little brother Hrafn to fall apart. In the midst of all this turmoil, their mother turns their younger brother over to drug dealing because of a debt she owes him. When Óliver finds out about this, he sets off on a journey across the Red Night to find his little brother and save him from a corrupt future.
Not the only one
Edna Lúpita is from Mexico and lives in the west end of Reykjavík. She struggles with life and sometimes wants to kill herself. She brings actors Sólveigu Guðmundsdóttir and Val Frey Einarsson with her to deal with the demons in her life. Based on the autobiography of Edna Lupita, she reenacts events from her past with the help of professional actors. She evokes difficult memories and connects them to her struggles with mental illness and suicidal thoughts. Not Alone takes the viewer on an emotional journey as Edna seeks spiritual recovery.
Heroes of the Day
Four women have lived in Iceland for twenty years. Born in Bosnia, Jamaica, Poland and Turkey – they all have their own stories of what brought them there. Society is changing rapidly and we often pay little attention to who it is that takes care of our children, the elderly, builds our houses and does all sorts of low-paid jobs in society. Here we get to know what it is like to be an expatriate Icelander in Iceland today.
Burial
The Industrial Bank building on Lækjargata was built in the 1960s in the spirit of international futuristic ideas. More than half a century later, the building is judged to give way, to face the power of the machine and the forces of nature. From inside the building we witness the demolition and dissolution of the bank with the daily life of the city in the background. This is a burial. The end of a building at the end of ideas about disposable buildings.
A small butterfly
As pig farmer Ernst and his wife Louise celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, they discover that they are about to lose their farm. The news will change him and his family forever. The film is directed by Soren Kragh-Jacobsen and co-produced by Pegasus.
Margaret I
The film is about Queen Margrethe, who dedicated her life to the creation of the Kalmar Treaty, which was the beginning of Scandinavia as we know it today and the brotherhood that reigns there. Queen Margrethe rules Sweden, Norway, and Denmark through her adopted son, Erik. A conspiracy puts Margrethe in a dire situation that could destroy her life's work, the Kalmar Union.
