Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2019, Blaðsíða 38

The Cold Truth
Pawel Ziemilski’s ingenious documentary
‘In Touch’ reunites fractured families
Words: Josie Gaitens Photos: Art Bicnick
Film Festival
Ice Docs is held in Akranes July 17th-
21st. Get more info at icedocs.is
Despite having a surprisingly long
and productive relationship with
filmmaking for
s u c h a s m a l l
countr y, there
are those who
would question
whether Iceland
needs another
film festival. But
for the founders
of Ice Docs, Ice-
land’s first international docu-
mentary film festival, the space
and requirement for their event
is clear.
Finding a space
“We’re very aware of the other
festivals,” co-founder Ingibjörg
Halldórsdóttir tells me. “People
think we’re the same as Skjald-
borg because of ‘documentary’ in
the title. But Skjaldborg usual-
ly just does Icelandic documen-
taries and then focuses perhaps
on one particular filmmaker.” In
contrast, Ice Docs seeks to have
a distinctly international focus,
with an emphasis on creative uses
of the genre.
The idea for the festival came
about, fittingly, in a cinema. In-
gibjörg and co-founder, Hallur
Örn Árnason, himself a doc-
umentary filmmaker, were at a
documentary premiere, bemoan-
ing the fact that there were less
than 20 people there. The pair had
previously worked together at the
Reykjavík International Film Fes-
tival, so the solution they landed
on to increase interest in doc-
umentary films was maybe not
so surprising, considering their
backgrounds and
skills. But decid-
ing to create a
new annual, mul-
ti-day arts event
f r o m s c r a t c h
is no easy task,
and both knew it
would be a labour
of love.
That conversation in the cine-
ma took place less than two years
ago. “It’s been a long process, very
organic. It just happened,” muses
Hallur. Ingibjörg adds, “We were
thinking, okay, it’s seven months
till summertime, we really don’t
want to do it that fast, so we did
it the very un-Icelandic way and
decided just to be patient.” She
smiles, “to be honest I could have
used six more months.”
Variety of form
The pair quickly teamed up with
another Akranes-based filmmak-
er, Heiðar Mar Björnsson. The
three share the same passion for
documentaries and hope that the
festival offers people the opportu-
nity to experience the great range
and versatility of the medium. At
a promotional event for the festi-
val last year, where they screened
Irish film ‘School Life,’ even Hal-
lur’s father, despite having a doc-
umentary filmmaker for a son,
was blown away by the scope of
the genre. “He came out shaking
his head saying “‘I didn’t know
documentaries could do this,’”
Hallur grins.
It’s this sensation that Ice Docs
aims to instill. Both Hallur and
Ingibjörg are quick to highlight
the broad mix of films that will
be screened over the five-day fes-
tival, believing there’s something
for everyone in their programme.
There’s ‘Aquarela’, a film about
water with no protagonist, open-
ing film ‘In Touch’, which recently
won the Skjaldborg Film Festi-
val, and the light-hearted ‘Hail
Satan?’, which Ingibjörg describes
as “A humorous approach to sa-
tanism.”
Putting Akranes
on the map
In total there will be over 40 films
screened as part of the festival
in the town’s charming theatre,
which is one of the oldest oper-
ating cinemas in Iceland. In ad-
dition to opening up the world
of documentaries for people, In-
gibjörg in particular is keen to
build Akranes’ reputation as an
arts venue. Despite being only 40
minutes away from Reykjavík,
Akranes has largely missed out on
the tourist boom that has fuelled
the Icelandic economy for the last
10 years. The founders of Ice Docs
hope that holding the festival here
will help raise the town’s profile.
“We hope that people will see
documentaries in a different
light afterwards, but also that
people see how cool Akranes is,
and what a great location it is,”
Ingibjörg summarises. “I think
that would be excellent to see as
many people there as possible.
Join our village!”
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“He came out
shaking his head
saying, ‘I didn’t
know documenta-
ries could do this.’”
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