{"id":74293,"date":"2026-10-08T10:54:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riff.is\/?p=74293"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:07:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:07:20","slug":"riff-2026-ellefu-dagar-af-uppgotvunum-samtolum-og-sameiginlegri-bioupplifun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/riff-2026-ellefu-dagar-af-uppgotvunum-samtolum-og-sameiginlegri-bioupplifun\/","title":{"rendered":"RIFF 2026: Eleven Days of Discovery, Conversation and Shared Cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Attendance Reaches New Heights with K2<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

H\u00e1sk\u00f3lab\u00ed\u00f3, the festival\u2019s home, was at the heart of it all. Interest in the opening film, Hinsta fer\u00f0in \u00e1 K2<\/em> (The Last First: Winter K2<\/em>was so strong that two auditoriums filled on opening night. This dramatic account of Icelandic mountaineer John Snorri\u2019s winter expedition to K2 returned on the final evening for an additional screening, moved to the Grand Auditorium in response to exceptional demand. John Snorri\u2019s daughter Halla addressed the audience before the screening. Afterwards, a discussion with T\u00f3mas Gu\u00f0bjartsson, Vilborg Arna Gissurard\u00f3ttir and Haraldur \u00d6rn \u00d3lafsson gave audiences an opportunity to reflect on the film together.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Skarsg\u00e5rd Brings the House Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among the festival\u2019s most memorable moments was the screening of at H\u00e1sk\u00f3lab\u00ed\u00f3. All seats in the Grand Auditorium were filled, as the actor received RIFF\u2019s Honorary Award for Artistic Excellence and joined audiences for a conversation moderated by Andri Sn\u00e6r Magnason after the screening, making for a truly memorable evening at Reykjav\u00edk International Film Festival.<\/em> with Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd in attendance. The actor clearly has a devoted following in Iceland, and the audience erupted as he took to the stage. All 970 seats in H\u00e1sk\u00f3lab\u00ed\u00f3\u2019s Grand Auditorium sold out for the occasion, which saw Skarsg\u00e5rd receive RIFF\u2019s Honorary Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement and join writer Andri Sn\u00e6r Magnason for a conversation after the screening.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Honouring the Art of Action<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The festival also celebrated the people whose work shapes cinema on both sides of the camera. Director David Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick received honorary awards at Reykjav\u00edk Art Museum\u2019s Hafnarh\u00fas and explored the craft of action filmmaking in a masterclass with film editor and longtime collaborator El\u00edsabet Ronaldsd\u00f3ttir. Producer Sigurj\u00f3n Sighvatsson received a surprise lifetime achievement honour during a double feature celebrating the 40th anniversary of Propaganda Films. The programme paired the Twin Peaks<\/em> pilot with a brand-new 4K restoration of will be screened in a stunning new 4K restoration, created from the original 35mm film elements under the supervision of cinematographer Frederick Elmes and with the approval of the David Lynch Family Trust.<\/em>, winner of the Palme d\u2019Or at Cannes in 1990.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A Spotlight on Portugal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Portugal, this year\u2019s Country in Focus, made its mark on both the film and music programmes. Honorary guest Maria de Medeiros attended screenings of Quentin Tarantino\u2019s Pulp Fiction<\/em> and her own film, Capit\u00e3es de Abril<\/em> (April Captains<\/em>, and received RIFF\u2019s Honorary Award for Creative Excellence. The celebrations extended beyond the screen as Fado Bicha and the Reykjav\u00edk Queer Choir brought music, diversity and a spirit of togetherness to the programme.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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New Voices Take Centre Stage at RIFF<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alongside these celebrated guests, RIFF maintained its longstanding commitment to introducing new voices. In New Visions, emerging filmmakers competed for the Golden Puffin, while documentaries, international shorts, Icelandic films and the Golden Egg programme offered further opportunities for discovery. Across the programme, films sparked discussions about the world beyond the cinema: from women in geothermal energy and the changing Vatnaj\u00f6kull glacier to the pressures of tourism and childhood in the shadow of conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Industry Days Draw Strong Interest<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Industry Days brought filmmakers and other industry professionals together for panels, masterclasses and conversations. Guests included producer Erik Hemmendorff, ARTE France Cin\u00e9ma\u2019s R\u00e9mi Burah and TrustNordisk\u2019s Susan Wendt, who shared their experience and perspectives on developing film projects, securing financing and reaching audiences.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Let\u2019s Not Forget to Play<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There was plenty of room for play, too. Paddington\u2019s Pyjama Cinema proved so popular that an extra screening was added, while a sold-out Pride and Prejudice<\/em> Book Cinema event brought Jane Austen admirers together for literature, conversation and sparkling wine. UngRIFF welcomed younger audiences with films and creative activities, while a cave screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em> brought big-screen adventure to an extraordinary setting.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Our warmest thanks go to the audiences, filmmakers, guests, volunteers, interns, staff, partners and supporters who made RIFF 2026 possible. Their curiosity, generosity and enthusiasm were essential to these eleven days and made them unforgettable.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The screenings have ended, but the conversations continue and the memories live on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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RIFF 2026 Gallery<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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See you at RIFF 2027,<\/strong>
dagana<\/strong> 30.sept\u201310.okt.<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
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Packed cinemas, memorable guests and conversations that continued long after the credits rolled: Reykjav\u00edk International Film Festival 2026 has come to a close. From 24 September to 4 October, audiences explored a programme of 265 films from 60 countries and territories, bringing new perspectives and unforgettable stories to Reykjav\u00edk.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1108,"featured_media":74308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74293"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74310,"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74293\/revisions\/74310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riff.is\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}