Just a few more days before RIFF Reykjavík International Film Festival starts. The festival is in its seventh year and keeps on getting better and better. Here are some — expected — highlights of this 2011 edition.
- The films
Kind of obvious, isn’t it? Films will be the core of the festival. Twelve films are in competition in the New Visions category. Other categories to keep your eyes on are Open Seas and Special Presentations. If this were not enough, RIFF will feature several retrospectives, including screenings of a selection of representative works from Romania. As with the past editions, particular prominence will also be given to documentaries. - Honorary guests
RIFF 2011 will be welcoming a few prestigious names as its guests of honor: Béla Tarr, James Marsh, Adrian Sitaru and Lone Scherfig. Tarr will be assigned RIFF’s lifetime achievement award, the same award which in the previous editions went to other influencial film-makers as Jim Jarmusch, Miloš Forman and Aki Kaurismäki. Three of his films will be screened in a special retrospective: Werckmeister Harmonies, The Turin Horse and Family Nest. Marsh, Scherfig and Sitaru, all well-known in the world of independent film-making, will also be the focus of three retrospectives. - Inni
The live documentary about Sigur Rós, filmed at the Alexandra Palace in 2008 and directed by Vincent Morisset, premiered earlier this month at Venice Film Festival. Inni will be the opening film of RIFF 2011. The screening that will take place at Nasa will be the Nordic premiere for the film. - RIFF Swim-In
The swimming pool screening, a peculiarity of the festival hosted by Iceland’s capital, has become over the years a traditional appointment. This year’s film? A classic from the 80’s: The Neverending Story.
Apart from the highlights in this brief overview, there are more events planned. RIFF 2011 promises to be great, so if you are in town make sure to check it out. Detailed info on tickets for individual events and discount passes are available through the official site of Reykjavík International Film Festival. For last minutes updates, you can follow the festival on Twitter and Facebook.
I will be covering this year’s event and will be discussing films in program extensively, so check back for updates!
I really wish I could be there. The biggest problem is that I was born smart and good looking instead of rich. Damn!
Too bad, but you could use your other talents to get rich in no time though =D
They should have the guts to have Satantango in all it’s 7-hour glory.
And destroy the urinary bladders of the public with a screening without pauses….Good combination: the cold of Reykjavik and the coldness of the films by Bela Tarr.Well, at least the guest of honour is not Michael Haneke or other austrian director…About Romanian movies: I saw four of five and they are not exactly the best cinema to watch if you want to keep your spirit high(I think in “The death of Mr.Lazarescu” and “Four months ,three weeks,two days”.)Interesting cycle,in any case.Better to see Romanian movies than Serbian movies( things like “A Serbian movie” or “The life and death of a porno gang”.)
To be honest, it is not that cold in September in Iceland’s capital, Jose =P
I think you have to feel a connection with Béla Tarr’s films, or either they are lost on you. Although I wouldn’t have disliked the challenge to watch Satantango in a theater — only watched it on a TV screen — I can see that for average audience that would be too taxing. Still, as Romaine said, it would have been a bold choice to have that film in the restrospective, maybe screened for a smaller audience. However, I don’t think we have elements to question the selection of films.
As for Romanian films, I don’t argue that usually they are not very uplifting, although there are exceptions to this as well. In any case that’s not the point. Every cinema is different, as every decent film-maker is different, and having them compared (Romanian vs Serbian, etc.) assuming they are the same would be pointless.
Of course, every cinema is different , and every movie is different,and every movie of the same director is different.I”m only trying to speak about the general mood that I can feel watching a very limited number of pictures from certains countries, and for me is possible to find a continuity of mood and atmosphere ,even in subjects,in Romanian or Serbian films: a desolate vision of the society ,the weight of a totalitarian past,the corruption in all the ambits of society,the impotence in front of a uncertain future,to name only a few.Of course, all this is a partial, subjective and very limited generalization,but with some true inside.I hope the festival will help to bring a wider vision of Romanian cinema.About the film of Bela Tarr: I was only joking: I saw the film in seven parts of one hour each one in my home.But,if is not possible to show movies of this extremely long duration in a festival,that says a lot about the level of some potential public.Precisely ,this kind of movies find their true meaning in festivals,where people is potentially open to all kinds of experiments, including long durations.