"A heavy metal band plays at a screening of a classic Viking film. Björk arrives to see the latest films by Pedro Almodóvar and Athina Rachel Tsangari. Filmmakers relax in geothermal pools by the sea. Industry figures are invited to the presidential residence to chat about the state of the film industry. This is a traditional day at the Reykjavík International Film Festival.”
This is how it begins discussion Variety about RIFF, but the festival was held for the 21st time this year earlier this month and has attracted global attention for its unique appeal.
""RIFF is a key place for filmmakers to network and learn about film production in a small country with big production plans," also says an article in Variety, one of the largest trade magazines in the film world. Variety's editor in the US, Pat Saperstein, was very impressed with RIFF and discussed, among other things, its unique features: "Held in early October when temperatures are still mild and it's bright outside until the evening, the festival has a unique Icelandic flavor. Each year, RIFF director Hrönn Marinósdóttir and her team host special events such as a swim-up cinema, visual food festivals and musical performances, such as Þungur knaifur, where the heavy metal band Sólstafir played an original composition during a screening of the Viking film Hrafninn flýgur.
In addition to Variety, the festival was attended by many of the world's major media outlets, including Euronews, Cahiers Du Cinema, the most prestigious and influential film magazine according to Harvard University Press, and Vogue Scandinavia, and media from Hungary, Lithuania, the United States, Greece and France, among others. RIFF was also a special focus for the Argentinian cultural magazine Caligari, who wrote extensively about the festival, as well as writing film reviews of 16 films that were screened at RIFF this year.
The foreign media learned about the state of filmmaking in Iceland and visited Fagradalsfjall, where filming is currently underway. The fires, a film by Ugla Hauksdóttir. Baltasar Kormákur also welcomed the group to RVK Studios in Gufunes, they visited old filming locations near Hvammsvík, and stopped at the bathing lagoon where owner Skúli Mogensen greeted industry professionals.
Nearly 200 people from the film world, including directors, directors of major film festivals such as Berlin and Cannes, and film producers, came to Iceland to participate in the festival and RIFF business days, where they discussed, among other things, new Icelandic films in production, the state of the film industry, and artificial intelligence.
Euronews drew attention to the incredible growth of the festival: "The festival was small at first and focused mainly on Icelanders who shot films abroad, but "RIFF has grown into a festival that is not only the largest film event in Iceland, but also an increasingly important destination for those who want to see the best in European cinema."
Ólafur Árheim, film director who premiered Aftermath, his first feature-length film at this year's RIFF, said in an interview with Euronews: "It’s great to see how RIFF has grown and flourished into a major film festival that brings in influential guests of honor and showcases the best films of the year. I’m thrilled that they still offer a space for small, independent films like mine. While it’s still too early to say how RIFF will directly impact me and my film, I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of the festival.”
Hollywood Insider compared RIFF to other film festivals and assessed what makes RIFF a “model film festival,” which is believed to be due to RIFF’s connection to Icelandic culture, “which has given the festival a unique status that others have difficulty replicating. RIFF is not just a festival, but a journey into the heart of Iceland.”
The article about RIFF in Vogue Scandinavia Attached are gorgeous photos of the festival's guests, including Baltasar Kormákir and Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, guests of honor Jonas Akerlund and Athina Tsangari, program director Frédéric Boyer, and others from the industry here at home and abroad.
