It’s a wrap for the sixth edition of Reykjavík’s Stockfish Film Festival, one of the few live film gatherings that managed to survive the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the event took place from 12-22 March, and the venue, as usual, was the only arthouse cinema in Iceland, the Bíó Paradís. The festival applied rigid safety measures to ensure “social distancing” and to limit gatherings in line with the precautions adopted by the country’s other cinemas and the recommendations imposed by the local Department of Health.

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Founded in 2015 as a reincarnation of the Reykjavík Film Festival, Stockfish aims to create a platform to encourage collaboration between local and international film communities, and gives the general public an opportunity to see some of the most innovative arthouse films in the world. The winner of this year’s Shortfish, Stockfish’s short-film competition, was Ninna Pálmadóttir’s Paperboy. The movie tells the story of a small-town paper delivery boy who peeks through his neighbour’s window and connects with a traumatised woman. Ninna received a prize of 1 million Icelandic crowns (€6,600) in equipment rental from Kukl. The panel of judges included screenwriter Ottó Geir Borg, director Silja Hauksdóttir, and film critic, writer and founder of Ubiquarian Marina Richter.

The jury presented the award to Pálmadóttir and made the following accompanying statement: “Sometimes, help comes from the place you least expect it, from little people we don’t take notice of, but who are a considerable part of our daily lives. Sometimes, the little people can literally be that – children. The hero of the Shortfish competition is tucked away in silence and burdened by immense sorrows, yet is capable of putting this aside to offer comfort to a perfect stranger. We, the jury, have made a unanimous decision. For its cinematic quality conveyed through subtle images that speak for themselves even without a dialogue, for its warmth and nuanced script that focuses on human connection, and for its impeccable eye for detail, we award the prize to Ninna Pálmadóttir’s Paperboy.”

The Stockfish Film Festival was both opened and brought to a close by two screenings of Alejandro Landes’ war drama Monos [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], Colombia’s entry for the 2020 Oscars and the winner of the Award for Best Iberoamerican Film at the 34th Goyas.

The sixth edition of the event was held in collaboration with Bíó Paradís, the Icelandic Film Centre, the Film Directors’ Guild of Iceland, the Association of Icelandic Film Producers, the Society of Women in Filmmaking, the Icelandic Actors’ Guild, the Icelandic Cinematographers’ Society and the Icelandic Dramatists’ Union.