Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2019, Síða 38

From Hot Tub
Dream To The
Big Screen
How three people made their
vision of a film festival real w
Words: Phil Uwe Widiger Photos: Art Bicnick
Festival
The second Borgarnes Film Freaks
festival was held from January 24th-
26th. Follow the preparations for
next year’s event on Facebook.
Borgarnes is an idyllic little town in
the West of Iceland. With roughly
2000 inhabitants, it could be eas-
ily overlooked as a drive-through on
the road to more popular tourist at-
tractions or Iceland’s second city,
Akureyri. But, don’t be fooled—Bor-
garnes has some surprises in store.
The story of the Borgarnes Film
Freaks (BFF) festival began two
years ago in one of the most
Icelandic environments imag-
inable—a hot tub. The idea was
hatched by Michelle Bird, Eiríkur
Þór Theodórsson and Halldór Óli
Gunnarsson. The trio combined
their unique skills and cultural
and creative backgrounds, to cre-
ate the first BFF, which was held in
January 2018.
“We didn’t have any budget,”
recounts Michelle, a painter and
US transplant. “Most of the films
were donated from friends of
mine. Beer was donated from the
Steðje brewery, and the space from
the Settlement Centre.”
From 900 to 29
The inaugural event was a suc-
cess, and for the second edition,
the team successfully applied for
funding. They also started using
the FilmFreeway platform to con-
nect with filmmakers from all
around the globe.
“We had no idea how effective
this platform was,” says Michelle.
“In the end, we received 900 appli-
cations for films to be screened.”
Within two months, the team
watched all 900 films, and whit-
tled their selection down to 29
films from 16 countries. Each film
had to get a unanimous thumbs up
to be accepted for screening.
“I thought ‘I will never watch
a film again in my life,’” chuckles
Halldór. “My routine was to go to
the gym after work and then the
whole night would be spent watch-
ing films.”
Diversity
The films varied in length, lan-
guage and genre. From the hor-
ror-themed “Friday Night,” to the
hilarious short “Blue Division” and
a documentary on gold mining in
Africa, “Nobody Dies Here,” there
was something for everybody.
One film proved to be more
popular than the others, how-
ever — “Dagur í lífi Palla Egils”
(English: “A day in the life of Palli
Egils.”) It is an Icelandic film that
followed Borgarnes local Palli for
a whole day. The film is honest and
nostalgic, with a refined sense of
humour.
“It means a lot to the people
here to see an Icelandic film,”
says Michelle. Due to its popular-
ity amongst locals, the film was
screened on all three nights, un-
derlining the team’s spontaneity.
Cultural hub Borgarnes
Festival aside, Borgarnes is thriv-
ing culturally. “There are many
things to do here,” says Michelle.
“There are a lot of cultural ac-
tivities and people are really in-
volved.”
“Two years back I was thinking
that there weren’t enough things
to do for young people,” Halldór
adds. “I was born and raised here,
so I know about this first hand. I
saw this as an opportunity to wel-
come a younger crowd and show
them films I would have loved
when I was younger.”
The plan worked: this year saw
a 100% increase in visitors from
all age groups. What is the team’s
secret? Passion, homeyness and
great popcorn.
Dream fulfilled
“One thing that we really want
keep is the honesty and the liv-
ing room feeling,” says Halldór.
While the Settlement Centre was
used for screening the first night,
Óðal, an old cinema, was used for
the last two days of the festival. It
charms the audience with a ret-
ro-look, a popcorn machine and
couches to sit on. All in all, it feels
like watching films at home in the
company of good friends.
“If nothing else, we are fulfill-
ing our own dreams,” says Mi-
chelle. “I’m really proud of us.”
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