The 23rd edition of Iceland’s largest film festival, the Reykjavík International Film Festival (RIFF) came to a close on 4 October after over ten days of screenings, talks and events. At an awards ceremony last Saturday, the winners of its competitive strands were announced: Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva was crowned as the winner of the Golden Puffin.

The Golden Puffin is the top prize in the New Visions section, for first or second features, be they documentary or fiction. Cinematographer-turned-director Atlan’s expansive, Campania-set film beat out other acclaimed titles including Blerta Basholli’s Dua and Jacqueline Lentzou’s A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra.

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The New Visions jury praised La Gradiva’s eschewal of “easy sentimentality” as well as its “exceptional emotional intelligence and ability to capture the unspoken currents of human interaction”. Meanwhile, Chronovisor – described by the jury as both thrilling and frustrating – by US directors Jack Auen and Kevin Walker strolled away with the New Visions Special Mention; the film is also a directorial debut.

In the A Different Tomorrow strand, dedicated exclusively to documentaries, If Luck Will Come by Camille Bildsøe became a tautology by grabbing the top prize in the section. Bildsøe’s documentary follows two Afghan children who find freedom and joy by training in a local circus, despite being heavily affected by Taliban rule. The jury emphasised the movie’s “deeply humane approach” to capturing the systemic oppression of women and girls in the country. Lana Daher’s Venice-premiered archival documentary about Beirut, Do You Love Me, took home the A Different Tomorrow Special Mention and was lauded by the jury as demonstrating a “masterful use of archival material”.

The Best Icelandic Short Award was collected by Fan Sissoko for her animation Hold It Together, about a young immigrant in Iceland trying to find her place at the country’s geothermal baths, which act as social spaces. Based on the Reykjavík-based French-Malian filmmaker, artist and cultural programmer’s own experiences, the film premiered at Annecy and won the André-Martin Award for a French Short Film.

Sudanese filmmaker Ibrahim Omar’s Nothing Happens After Your Absence – which stars and was written, directed and produced by Omar – went away with the Best International Short Award, after having premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight earlier this year.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Golden Puffin
La Gradiva – Marine Atlan (France/Italy)
Special Mention
Chronovisor – Jack Auen, Kevin Walker (USA)

A Different Tomorrow Award
If Luck Will Come – Camille Bildsøe (Denmark/Iceland/Norway)
Special Mention
Do You Love Me – Lana Daher (France/Lebanon/Germany/Qatar)

Golden Egg
Left Behind – Yannis Karpouzis (Greece)

Best Icelandic Short
Hold It Together – Fan Sissoko (France/Belgium/Iceland)

Best International Short
Nothing Happens After Your Absence – Ibrahim Omar (Sudan)
Special Mention
Taxi Moto – Gael Kamilindi (Switzerland/France)

Icelandic Student Shorts Award
Congratulations, Asshole – Orri Guðmundsson (Iceland)

Young People’s Jury Award
Club Kid – Jordan Firstman (USA)