Short Films And Fish: The 11th Northern Wave Film Festival Is Here

Imagine you are sitting on the beach in Barcelona, reading about the New Wave in film, and thinking: “This is exactly what I want to do!”

Plot Twist: You come from a small town in Iceland called Grundarfjörður, located right next to the ocean. This how the Northern Wave Short Film Festival was born.

The new wave of northern films

“The focus is on artists and the artistry of the film more than the commercial side,” explains festival director Dögg Mósesdóttir. “It’s more about taking risk, expanding the film language and discovering new waves of making films coming from the north. And there are a lot of waves in Grundarfjörður!”

Dögg launches the festival after graduating from film school in Barcelona and returning to her hometown in the west of Iceland. Having grown up in the countryside and studied in Spain, the festival helped her form connections with the film industry in Reykjavík.

“The idea behind the festival is to bring together grassroots artists and hopefully make them collaborate,” she says. “It was very important to me to also have musicians involved, performance artists and other people who are expanding the boundaries of filmmaking.”

Brushing teeth and making art

Two years ago, the festival moved to the town of Rif and is now held in the Freezer Hostel, where the roughly 150 attendees stay for the whole weekend. “It can’t get more intimate,” Dögg laughs. “The filmmakers always talk about how they are brushing their teeth together.”

Apart from a competition for short films of all genres, the festival also features masterclasses and a fish cookery contest. This year’s honorary guest is none other than Gale Anne Hurd, known for the production of films such as Armageddon, Aliens and The Terminator. Also, the legendary editor Valdís Óskarsdóttir will be giving a masterclass.

Fish and music

The cooking competition element has the purpose of connecting the audience with locals, who can sign up for fish from a local fish company and cook their most tasty fish course for the guests to taste, with the best winning an award.

Another thing that is quite unique for the festival is its inclusion of music videos and other visual art. On the Friday of the festival, selected music videos will be screened, followed by performances by artists such as MIMRA and KiraKira. “It’s a packed weekend full of concerts, masterclasses and films,” finishes Dögg, leaving us with watering mouths.

The 11th Northern Wave Film Festival will be held from October 26th-28th in Rif, Snæfellsbær.