Awards & Juries

Over the years we have screened many outstanding films by brave and artistic voices at RIFF. The ones that show artistic excellence and break boundaries will win awards. The films in our New Visions section will compete for the most acclaimed award of the festival: The Golden Puffin, whose recipient will be named Discovery of the Year.

An award will be also given the most outstanding film in the documentary competition section A Different Tomorrow.

Short films from the participants in the Talent Lab will compete for the Golden Egg.

And we also award the best of our national cinema with our Best Icelandic Short and the Best International Short in our International Shorts competitive section.

RIFF 2021

Discovery of the Year: The Golden Puffin

The films in our competitive category New Visions are all debut or sophomore efforts. One will be named Discovery of the Year and receive the Golden Puffin.

Jury

Yorgos Krassakopoulos

Head of Programming Thessaloniki Film Festival

Head of Programming at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival.

Trine Dyrholm

Actress

Actress, singer, and songwriter, known for her roles in Queen of Hearts and In a Better World. RIFF’s guest of honour and head of jury.

Gagga Jóns

Director

Filmmaker and director of Stitch n’ Bitch.

Anita Briem

Actress

Actress and scriptwriter, known for Journey to the Center of Earth and The Minister.

Gísli Örn Garðarsson

Producer

Actor, director and producer at Vesturport.

Best Icelandic Short and Best Icelandic Student Short

In this competitive category one director receives a prize for the Best Icelandic Short. The jury gives out another award for the Best Icelandic Student Short.

Jury

Nathalie Mierop

Promotion Manager Feature Films at SEE NL

Promotion Manager Feature Film at SEE NL.

Þóra Björg Clausen

Head or Programming and Acquisitions

Head of Programming and Acquisitions for Icelandic media network Channel 2.

Producer Anton Mani Svansson Photo by Bryndis Helgadottir edited 1

Anton Máni Svansson

Producer at Joint Motion Pictures

Producer at Join Motion Pictures.

A Different Tomorrow Award

The films in A Different Tomorrow shed light on environmental and humanitarian topics because, sometimes, the right film can change the world. The most outstanding groundbreaking film in this section will be receive our A Different Tomorrow Award.

Jury

Guillaume Calop

Les Arcs

Co-creator and general manager of Les Arcs Film Festival.

Marie Zeniter

Programmer

International Sales Manager at Magnolia Films

Silja Hauksdóttir

Director

Director, known for the film Agnes Joy.

Best International Short

With urgency and determination, the talented filmmakers in this section make us travel beyond the borders of reality, expanding the scope of our imagination, reinventing cinema within every frame. The bravest voice will be awarded our Best International Short.

Jury

Sonja Wyss

Director

Filmmaker, her film Farewell Paradise is part of the RIFF 2021.

Ninna Pálmadóttir

Filmmaker

An up-and-coming director, her short All Dogs Die was part of Karlovy Vary and RIFF in 2020.

Óskar Páll

Producer

Filmmaker and owner of production company Yoda films.

THE GOLDEN EGG

The Golden Egg Competition is a selection of films from up-and-coming directors participating in the 2021 RIFF Talent Lab.

Jury

Vincent Boy Kars

Filmmaker

Vincent Boy Kars (1990) is a Rotterdam-based filmmaker currently working on his millennial trilogy, in which he experiments with the borders between fiction and reality.