Young filmmakers pull it together
A new grassroots start-up is giving the Icelandic film stars of tomorrow a place to shine.
True, the post-crash Icelandic film scene has suffered from slashed budgets and fewer films are being funded. However, a few badass filmmakers―Arnar Sigurðsson, Ragnhildur Sigurðardóttir and Heimir Freyr Hlöðversson―have founded a guerrilla response to the post-crash Icelandic film scene, a new film collective they call Klapp.
Klapp is “going back to what matters,” says Arnar. Built on a co-op model, with roughly 25 members and growing, they’re nurturing the next Icelandic film stars of tomorrow.
Last month, when they put out a call for applicants they were met with an overwhelming response and sent out the chosen ten teams of young filmmakers to hone their chops on the streets of Reykjavík as part of the Klapp Guerrilla Filmmaking Campaign.
Next, they’ll help these filmmakers with post-production and get ready to debut these creative, drama, dance and documentary shorts this summer.
Klapp offers technical and creative workshops, production support and equipment to young filmmakers who would otherwise work alone in their apartments with friends. “We want to function openly and democratically with the maximum involvement of our members,” says Arnar, sounding a bit like a politician.
He groans, explaining that it has always been hard to maintain a national film industry in Iceland, even in the best of years―especially with the recession, scarcity of loose capital and slashed public funding.
“The necessity for cinema to be in a real dialogue with society is more pressing than ever, so creative means must be found if this art form wants to be counted as of culture.”
Founded last summer in Reykjavík, it all came about after organising a script-writing workshop―which snowballed into a series of other events.
Familiar with the art of filmmaking, the Klapp kids started sharing their collection of film equipment among themselves to dodge rental feels.
That turned into the guerrilla filmmaking campaign in the fall (funded by the Reykjavík municipality).
Klapp hosts semi-public events like script writing workshops on Monday nights, acting and directing workshops on Wednesday nights and “geek weekends”, where sound, camera and light techies gather with equipment on everybody else’s days off.
The events are not advertised, but if you’re interested in attending, email them at: klapp@klapp.is.
You just may get your star moment, or at least some applause.
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