PYJAMA PARTY: PADDINGTON
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 10:30 (10:30am)
Due to popular popular demand, we’ve added an extra screening for the Paddington Pajama Party in a second auditorium, as the original event is completely sold out! Please note that this room won’t be decorated in the same way as the main hall, but you are still more than welcome to show up in your pajamas and enjoy the festive atmosphere. Our secret guest will still be waiting in the lobby when the doors open, and we’ll have special offers on breakfast-friendly treats at the kiosk! Because of these changes, standard ticket prices will apply. The film will be shown dubbed in Icelandic.
Amílcar + Masterclass with Miguel Eek
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 13:40 (1:40pm)
Following the screening of Amílcar , director Miguel Eek reflects on the creative and practical journey behind a film developed over more than a decade.
Agronomist, poet, utopian thinker, and revolutionary... Often referred to as the African Che Guevara, Cabral led the anti-colonial movement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde against Portuguese colonialism until his murder in 1973. Human rights, utopias, interracial love, ambition, war, and betrayal are the ingredients of this free portrait crafted with archival images and an imaginary diary in 16mm film. A cinematic documentary that expresses all the modernity of Cabral's world vision.
Fatherland
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 16:30 (4:30pm)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
The Subtitles are in Icelandic.
In 1949, German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika embark on a road trip across a Germany in ruins, from US-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar.
Skateboarding Is Not For Girls
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 13:30 (1:30pm)
Director: Dina Duma
When the conservative tradition of selling a bride is proposed as the answer to her family’s financial troubles, Adela is thrust into an unfamiliar world, caught between the demands of tradition and the promise of modern life.
Ævintýri á hestbaki &
Vegur 75 um Tröllaskarð– Álög Grímu + Q&A
Háskólabió
26. september, kl 17:05 (5:05pm)
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 11:00 (11:00am)
Director: Árni Gunnarsson
Árni Gunnarsson will take part in a Q&A.
Ride of a Lifetime follows Þórgunnur Þórarinsdóttir, a young horsewoman from northern Iceland whose life has always revolved around Icelandic horses. Filmed over five years, the documentary follows her journey from an unknown fifteen-year-old rider in rural Skagafjörður to representing Iceland at the 2025 World Championships for Icelandic Horses in Switzerland with her beloved horse, Djarfur frá Flatatungu.
Route 75 um tröllaskarð - Gríma's Curse: In Hegranes, northern Iceland, people have long believed that construction projects must be approved by hidden forces. In 1978, during a séance, the Icelandic Road Administration made a deal with Gríma, a woman who had lived there some 500 years earlier. In exchange for changing the design of the road over Tröllaskarð, she promised that serious accidents would be avoided. But did Gríma keep her promise? And do the hidden people still have a say?
The Siege of Paradise + Impact Talk
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 16:40 (4:40pm)
Director: Gar O’Rourke
The Impact Talk will be held in Icelandic.
In Cinque Terre on Italy’s northern Riviera, fewer than three thousand locals contend with over four million tourists each summer. Across one chaotic season, six very different lives play out in parallel, revealing a sharply funny and surprisingly tender story of paradise under pressure in the age of social-media driven tourism.
Amarga Navidad
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 18:30 (6:30pm)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Subtitles will be in icelandic
Bitter Christman follows Elsa, an advertising director whose mother dies during a long December holiday. She works non-stop and, without realizing, doesn’t give herself time to mourn her mother’s absence. After a crisis, Elsa decides to travel to the island of Lanzarote accompanied by her friend Patricia, who also needs to get away from the city. The story of these characters run parallel to that of a screenwriter and film director, exploring how life and fiction are inseparably linked, sometimes painfully so.
Arctic Circle of Lust + Q&A
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 18:15 (6:15am)
Director: Markku Heikkinen
The film’s director will take part in a Q&A.
Under the northern sky a couple learns the rules of a new relationship. Fifty-year-old Petri has faced his bisexuality and needs to fulfill his passions while Anu in turn questions her own expectations in a relationship.
Dua
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 20:45 (8:45pm)
Director: Blerta Basholli
Prishtina, Kosova, late 1990s. As war looms and ethnic tensions escalate, 13-year-old Dua struggles to find her place among her peers and within her changing body. After an incident shakes her community, she becomes a target herself and bonds with a fearless girl, Maki, who draws her toward an unexpected form of resistance. Between the daily violence and the growing threat of exile, there is little room for quiet awakenings.
Providence and the Guitar
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 15:20 (3:20pm)
Director: João Nicolau
The film’s director will take part in a Q&A.
In a distant past, Léon and Elvira Berthelini, itinerant artists, make their living hopping from town to town. An unusual curse sends them on absurd journeys into the 21st century, where the future of social security and of a rock band are at stake.
La Belle Année + Q&A
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 13:15 (1:15pm)
Leikstjóri myndarinnar, Angelica Ruffier Ballot, tekur þátt í Spurt og svarað.
Encouraged by editor Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir, a woman attempts a film about her chaotic past. Without a script, she casts actors, location scouts, relives childhood trauma until she is struck by a car mid-production. In the wreckage of the film’s unraveling, she lets go of the story she thought she had to tell to finally reclaim her life.
Icelandic Student Shorts + Q&A
Háskólabió
27. september
Icelandic Student Shorts Icelandic Student Shorts kl 13:45
International Shorts III International Shorts III 1:45pm
As always, RIFF celebrates short films with an extensive programme featuring works from around the world. In short filmmaking, few - if any - rules apply: the form is constantly reinvented, allowing inspiration of every kind to flourish.
Chronovisor
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 21:00 (9:00pm)
Directors: Jack Auen, Kevin Walker
An armchair mystery in which the life of a reclusive academic collides with the story of a clandestine technology that can photograph the past.
Bræður og systir
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 11:15 (11:15am)
Leikstjóri: Teresa Villaverde
Lisbon, mid-1990s. Maria, João and Mário live together, careless of the future, or even the present. They love each other but one day they go their separate ways. When Maria needs their help, the three brothers will reunite once again - but a trifle too late.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Háskólabió
27. september, kl 22:00 (10:00pm)
Leikstjórar: William Greaves, David Greaves
A decade after his death, boundary-breaking filmmaker William Greaves delivers one final surprise: footage of what he considered the most significant event he ever captured—a 1972 gathering he organised for the surviving luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance.
