Mayor of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr formally opened the 2010 Reykjavík International Film Festival (RIFF) during a festive ceremony at the National Theater yesterday. The first film to be screened this year was the American movie Cyrus (see poster).
Yesterday, on the first day of the festival, a total of 22 movies were screened. According to Morgunbladid, the National Theater finally fulfilled its purpose as a movie theater; it was designed to function as a venue to showcase both films and plays.
On RIFF’s website it says that it has always been one the festival’s main goals to show what’s happening in the Icelandic film scene and this year is no exception. Shorts, docs and full-length feature films will be screened in an Icelandic Panorama section.
Sixteen new Icelandic short films will be premiered, including Clean by Ísold Uggadóttir and Knowledgy by Hrefna Hagalín and Bára Kristín, starring Leo Fitzpatrick from Kids, and Life and Death of Henry Darger by Bertrand Mandico, which is the first Icelandic short being screened at the Venice Film Festival.
Additionally, 15 full-length films will be screened during the festival, such as Undercurrent by Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson, Stand-Up Girls by Áslaug Einarsdóttir and Iceland Uganda by Gardar Stefánsson and Rúnar Ingi Einarsson.
RIFF runs through October 3. Visit the festival’s website to learn more about the program and to buy tickets.
