Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.09.2012, Page 24

24 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2012FILM
Words
Mark O'Brien
Photo
RIFF
Talents In The RIFF Laboratory
The new generation of rising filmmakers
learning the trade in Reykjavík
Programme Director Marteinn Þórsson knows a thing or two
about how to make a movie himself. He is now working on
his next feature ‘XL,’ a dark comedy about an alcoholic heavy-
living MP sent into rehab by the Prime Minister. So it’s with
some authority that he insists: “Ninety percent of filmmak-
ing is about getting to know the right person.”
RIFF’S Talent Lab helps young apprentices
do just that. “Most filmmakers have to get seen
on the festival circuit. It’s a world you have to
know,” Marteinn says. Indeed, Reykjavík’s
talent scheme is modelled on similar pro-
grammes in Toronto, Berlin and beyond. “The
festival world is not that big: you can end up
meeting someone in Reykjavík who you’ve al-
ready met at Sundance.”
The programme offers the opportunity for film-
makers of any age, but specifically those at the start of their
movie careers, to come together and learn, network, attend
lectures and masterclasses with renowned industry leaders.
Talent Lab participants may submit their own short films for
the festival’s Golden Egg award. Such career-making chanc-
es don’t come cheap: last year’s visitors had to cough up the
princely sum of 45,000 ISK for the privilege. Nonetheless,
Marteinn maintains, “All you need to have is passion.”
Global reputation
This is his second year running the Talent Lab. Last year, 54
people from across the world participated. Originally called
the Transatlantic Talent Lab, the name was shortened as the
scheme grew. “Last year we had five filmmakers from Iceland,
others from the States, Canada, Germany, Poland, Sweden,
France, Russia, even Benin.”
“Our oldest was a 54-year-old man from India,” Marteinn
continues. “It doesn’t matter how young or old you are. You
have to submit a CV when applying and we try to take everyone
with the desire to come and learn.”
Each year, participants build connections with people that
may well last until long after their f light out of Iceland at the
end of the festival. Lou McLoughlin had already been singled
out as one of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’
‘Brits To Watch’ and had received accolades for her short film
‘Caring For Calum,’ which she produced whilst studying for a
film degree at the Edinburgh College of Art and then screened
and discussed with last year’s Talent Lab-goers.
Icelandic connections
“I instantly bought into the Icelandic creative output and the
mythology,” she recollects. “Before I arrived I made contact
with Icelandic production companies, and met up with Hlín
Jóhannesdóttir at ZIK ZAK.” Since then they have worked to-
gether on transforming Lou’s half-hour short into a feature-
length film, ‘16 Years Til Summer,’ about a man who returns
home to a small village in the Scottish highlands and con-
fronts his past after sixteen years in exile.
Lou is returning to Reykjavík next month to work on the
edit for the film, having put together a Scottish-Icelandic co-
production partnership. She is in consultation with musician
Jóhann Jóhannsson, and is working with Icelandic writers to
complete the project.
“They’re big risk-takers,” Lou concludes. “They were keen
to help me and work with me immediately, and when I went
back to Creative Scotland (the organisation which promotes
arts projects back home in Scotland) they were keen
to work with Iceland.”
It is perhaps that oft-spoken risk-taking
attitude that has built the entire festival to
such international prominence in just eight
years, attracting now the kind of crowds and
the stars that appear. The 2011 contingent had
the chance to meet and hear from Hungarian
director Béla Tarr, who came to Reykjavík to re-
ceive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“It was probably my most memorable moment,” Lou
reflects.
One young filmmaker who agrees with her is Omar
Zúñiga Hidalgo, who did his undergraduate film degree in
Santiago and then went on to do his graduate studies at NYU.
“I was particularly struck by Béla,” he remembers. “He was
very humble and very emphatic. He had recently announced
his retirement, and they were showing his last film, so it was
very special to hear him at that moment.” A cult favourite for
his signature long-take filmmaking technique, Béla retired
from making movies to found his own film school in Croatia.
“I remember he made a fierce defence of film and pushed us
to believe in our project, talking about choosing something to
concentrate on, to have a voice as a filmmaker and to say some-
thing.”
Like Lou, Omar continues to pursue his work, busy today
with his production company Cinestación—at the same time
as completing his degree. He keeps in touch with many of the
participants from last year, and with the friends he made from
the Icelandic Film School.
Kick up the arse
“Lots of the people who are coming here now have heard about
the Talent Lab from others who have been here before, so word
of mouth is always spreading,” Marteinn says, before he heads
off to prepare for the largest programme yet. As well as a mas-
terclass from Italian horror director Dario Argento, Talent Lab
filmmakers this year will hear from the people behind ‘Either
Way’, Iceland’s entry for this year’s Nordic Council Film Prize:
“That was produced on zero budget,” Marteinn says. “That will
be a good kick up the arse for anyone who thinks they have to
wait for Hollywood to come knocking on the door.”
Successful filmmakers are rarely reluctant to offer their
time and teach the next generation, Marteinn says. “They’re
very generous because they know the industry. They remem-
ber how they started out too, and the people who shared their
knowledge and insight with them.”
For the bright lights who will be sharing their work and
competing to take home the Golden Egg this autumn, it may
not be so long until they’re back to tell a future class about how
their journey started back at RIFF 2012.
Global icons like Dario Argento and Marjane Satrapi may be leading the billing at RIFF
2012, but a cohort of up-and-coming filmmakers is on its way to Reykjavík this year to
join them. RIFF has long had a reputation as a breeding ground for new talent, in no
small part thanks to its Talent Lab scheme, organised every year alongside the main
festival programme.
“
Last year we had
five filmmakers from
Iceland, others from the
States, Canada, Germany,
Poland, Sweden, France,
Russia, even Benin.
„
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