05/10/2023 - Two fiction feature films, three series and six documentaries are set to be presented during the 20th Reykjavik International Film Festival’s Industry Days

Skinny Love by Sigurður Anton

Icelandic production is anything but lacking in talent, as demonstrated by Hlynur Pálmason (Godland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elliott Crosset Hove
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile]), Rúnar Rúnarsson (Sparrows [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile]), Benedikt Erlingsson (Woman at War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson
film profile]) and Grímur Hákonarson (Rams [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Grimur Hakonarson
film profile]), to give but a few names, and the same goes for series along the lines of Blackport [+see also:
interview: Olivier Wotling
series profile], for example. So there should be a considerable amount of interest tomorrow, 6 October, at Industry Days, which is unspooling within the 20th Reykjavik International Film Festival (RIFF), offering up a Work In Progress line-up dedicated to Icelandic production and toplined by 11 titles.

Stealing focus in the post-production arena is Skinny Love by Sigurður Anton, a dramedy starring Kristrún Kolbrúnardóttir, Magdalena Tworek, Edda Lovísa Björgvinsdóttir and Laurasif Nóra, and written by the director himself, whose story revolves around 25-year-old content creator Emilý who learns that her long-distance girlfriend wants to move to Iceland and make their open relationship exclusive. Emily is forced to face up to her anxieties over the future while trying to support her teenage colleague and struggling with financial difficulties. Another stand-out work in post-production is Top 10 Must by Ólöf B. Torfa, whose story follows two very different women who have felt lost for a little while and who decide to take back control of their lives.

Standing tall among the documentaries on the agenda is the movie in pre-production Sisters, by Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir, which explores the impact of political polarisation through the trajectories of two artist sisters in the ‘60s. Three titles in development are also jostling in the line-up: Big Dreams in a Small Town by Árni Gunnarsson, which will follow in the wake of a basketball team from Tindastóll who are looking to win the national title, Trapped in Ice by Spain’s Alexia Muiños, which will speak of the descent into hell of a foreign artist imprisoned in Iceland following an act of self-defence in a toxic relationship, and Ice, Wind, Music by French director Jean-Michel Roux.

The Faroe Islands will likewise be represented during this Work In Progress event, by way of a documentary which is currently in the editing phase, A Disappearing Act by Búi Egason Dam, revolving around a theatre director who’s trying to produce a play with his own mother playing the lead role of an actress suffering from Alzheimer’s. Also worth a mention is Nivi Pedersen’s Greenlander documentary series project Oqaluttuamik, charting the history of the Thule culture.

A further three series will also be in on the action, including two crime works currently in production: the second seasons of the Icelandic-Belgian offering Black Sands [+see also:
trailer
series profile] (whose first instalment was screened in the 2022 Berlinale) and The Minister (whose first season triumphed at the 2021 Eddas). Equally eye-catching in the showcase is the sci-fi series in post-production Visitors, about two youngsters who find they’ve swapped bodies.

The full list of projects is as follows:

Skinny Love - Sigurður Anton (Iceland)
Production: Kisi

The Minister, season 2 - Arnór Pálmi Arnarsson and Katrín Björgvinsdóttir (Iceland) (series)
Production: Sagafilm

A Disappearing Act - Búi Egason Dam (the Faroe Islands) (documentary)
Production: kykmyndir

Big Dreams in a Small Town - Árni Gunnarsson (Iceland) (documentary)
Production: Skotta Film

Trapped in Ice - Alexia Muiños (Iceland) (documentary)
Production: NyArk Media

Oqaluttuamik - Nivi Pedersen (Denmark) (series) (documentary)
Production: KaNOq Aps

Ice, Wind, Music - Jean-Michel Roux (Iceland/France/Finland) (documentary)
Production: Icelandic Film Corporation

Visitors - Ásgeir Sigurðsson (Iceland) (series)
Production:  LJÓS Films

Top 10 Must - Ólöf B. Torfa (Iceland)
Production: MyrkvaMyndi, Kisi

Sisters - Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir (Iceland) (documentary)
Production: Krumma Films

Black Sands [+see also:
trailer
series profile], season 2 - Baldvin Z, Álfheiður Marta Kjartansdóttir and Erlendur Sveinsson (Iceland) (series)
Production: Glassriver

(Translated from Italian)