Cinephiles, Brace Yourselves For RIFF

“Ooof!” I let out a loud sigh as the first iteration of the Reykjavík International Film Festival programme lands in my hands. At a mere 112 pages, navigating the festival’s schedule feels like trying to choose a movie on a weeknight. You know the drill: scrolling through Netflix, checking your Disney+ account (shared with your parents or maybe a few strangers), then over to Prime, and maybe a peek at Apple TV. Feeling arthouse vibes? Time to pay for that MUBI subscription, again.

Now imagine doing the same in a more analogue way — paper brochure in hand, standing in front of Háskólabíó. It’s nothing short of daunting.

As RIFF approaches, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to sift through the festival’s programme. Our goal? To make life easier — both for us, and for you — when the time comes to choose what to watch.

Hrönn Marinósdóttir

Artists in spotlight

“Every year, it’s a challenge to put this festival together, but it’s not difficult because there are so many good films,” says Festival Director Hrönn Marinósdóttir. “It’s a challenge in a nice way — how to involve the audience and get them interested. We always focus on new progressive cinema and then put satellites on authors, our honorary guests.”

“95% of the films that we screen will not go to Icelandic cinemas. Most of them are not on Netflix, and will never be on Netflix.”

RIFF has been visited in the past by an impressive roster of internationally acclaimed directors like David Lynch, Luca Guadagnino, and Jim Jarmusch. The 2024 edition of the festival will welcome several honorary guests, including actress Nastassja Kinski and directors Bong Joon-ho, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and Jonas Åkerlund.

Nastassja, who had her breakthrough in Roman Polanski’s Tess in 1979, rose to global fame with the neo-western Paris, Texas. As of 2024, she has over 60 titles to her name. To celebrate her diverse acting career, RIFF will screen Cat People and Paris, Texas, followed by a masterclass.

Though Bong Joon-ho, whose film Parasite put South Korean cinema firmly on the world map, won’t be able to attend in person, RIFF will screen two of his earlier movies: Mother and The Host. After the screening of the latter, Bong Joon-ho will address the Icelandic audience by joining online for a discussion, moderated by Frédéric Boyer, RIFF’s Head of Programming and the Artistic Director of the Tribeca Film Festival.

Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, who co-produced three films with Oscar-nominated, BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning director Yorgos Lanthimos, is bringing three of her films to screen in Iceland, including Attenberg, Chevalier, and her 2024 drama Harvest.

Drive, watch and dine

In total, the festival’s programme features around 75 films, including short films, documentaries, features of all sorts, including horrors, and more. To complement the main lineup, the festival also invites audiences to a drive-in cinema Bílabío and a variety of side events, some with a focus on gastronomy.

One of the highlights is a special screening of Like Water for Chocolate (directed by Alfonso Arau) paired with a unique menu by Sónó Matseljur. The restaurant, located at the Nordic House, was deeply inspired by the film, according to Hrönn.

The documentary Shelf Life (directed by Ian Cheney) looks into the art of cheese-making, drawing parallels between the ageing processes of cheese and humans. This screening will be complemented by a cheese and wine tasting. Following the film, there will be a Q&A session featuring Helgi Pé from the Icelandic Association of Retirees and psychologist Sjöfn Evertsdóttir, focusing on the joys of ageing.

Loveable

What it means to be loveable

The festival will open with Loveable (Elskling) by Lilja Ingólfsdóttir, a Norwegian-Icelandic writer and director. Lilja has been working in the film industry for about 30 years, having written and directed 25 short films and scripts for three features, as well as teaching film.

But her journey to her first feature film wasn’t without bumps along the way. As Lilja admits in our conversation, it took her 15 years to secure funding for the feature. She began working on  Loveable six years ago, but the project faced several unsuccessful funding applications.

“It’s a relationship drama about a couple who have four children,” Lilja explains. “They’re under a lot of pressure, both at work and in their home life, and at some point, one of them wants a divorce, which pushes the other one into a very deep crisis. It pushes the protagonist to realise a lot of her inner psychological matters and why she has the problems she has, and where they come from.”

The film explores deeper themes of self-love and intimacy beyond the surface-level relationship drama. It delves into why people struggle with love and commitment, examining the psychological barriers and past experiences, like how your childhood can affect your relationships. Lilja stresses that while divorce rates are increasing worldwide, she wanted to investigate the root causes of marital crises and personal resistance to love, beyond external reasons like infidelity.

Lilja Ingólfsdóttir

She admits it’s a very personal film. “I have four children myself, and inspiration for the film really came out of a personal crisis,” she says. Lilja’s husband, cinematographer Øystein Mamen, served as the film’s DoP and has worked on previous projects with her. Balancing family and work life wasn’t always easy. “It was a personal project for both of us because we actually kind of grew out of the crisis we had a long time ago.”

“I won five awards and I had to come back because otherwise there wouldn’t be an award ceremony since almost all awards were for our film.“

Having premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the reception of Loveable has been really good so far. “It was unbelievable. There was a standing ovation for, I don’t know how many minutes, in this big cinema with 1.200 seats,” Lilja recalls. She had to leave the festival early, but was asked to return. “I won five awards and I had to come back because otherwise there wouldn’t be an award ceremony since almost all awards were for our film.”

“One of the most fantastic things was to see how the film deeply resonated with the audience,” she continues. “They were very touched and emotional. One guy came to me and said, ‘You’ve just saved my marriage.’”

Loveable will have several screenings at RIFF, with Lilja attending for a Q&A session. For those who miss it at the festival, here’s a tip: Bíó Paradís will be screening the film this autumn.

Choreography on screen

With Sweden as the country in focus, RIFF’s programme includes a number of Swedish films from the past two years — including features, short films, and more experimental work. “Sweden has a huge film industry and they produce really quality films every year,” Hrönn explains. “Ruben Östlund visited RIFF way before he was famous,” she adds, hinting that some new Swedish breakthrough directors might be in the audience this year.

One Swedish filmmaker who certainly doesn’t chase accolades is Jonas Åkerlund. Known for directing music videos for high-profile artists, including Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Rammstein, Jonas will present his dance film DuEls. It’s a dance special based on live performance choreographed by Damien Jalet and Erna Ómarsdóttir.

“It’s based on a few different things that these amazing choreographers and dancers have done,” says Jonas, who met Erna, the artistic director of Iceland Dance Company, while collaborating on music videos for Sigur Rós and Duran Duran. “It was one of those things that we did out of pure passion because we really like to work together,” he says. “It’s really Damian and Erna’s film. I was there to translate what they created into film. I’ve known Erna for quite some time, and I’ll do anything for Erna. I would like to work with her all the time.”

Having worked with Madonna for 25 years, Jonas admits it was there he learned a lot how to film and edit choreography. “She’s very much a dancer,” he says. “The biggest natural challenge is that usually dance should be experienced live — you should see it on a stage or in a performance space. I learned over the years where to put the camera and how to shoot choreography but I also learned that through editing and sound effects and music, you can also make choreography more of a film experience. Some choreographers think that I’m messing a little bit with the choreography, but it’s important that the film experience is as powerful as seeing it live.”

Sitting in a room and watching his own work with other people is a rather rare occurrence for Jonas, but he’s very excited to be back in Iceland. “I’ve been going to Iceland since the 1980s,” he admits. “Iceland is one very few places I go to for pleasure and not for work.” In addition to DuEls, he’ll also be screening a catalogue of his music videos followed by a Q&A.

Those eager to see Tilda Swinton in a new role can catch her in the festival’s closing film — Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door.

So, grab your festival pass, a bucket of popcorn, and mark your must-see films. But first, take a deep breath. It’s a lot to take in.

As Hrönn says: “95% of the films that we screen will not go to Icelandic cinemas. Most of them are not on Netflix, and will never be on Netflix.”

Reykjavík International Film Festival takes place on September 26 – October 6. Tickets and info: riff.is