Fall is festival season! As ever, students, alumni and faculty of the Department of Film at Iceland University of the Arts are taking part in two Nordic film festivals this year: RIFF and Nordisk Panorama.
RIFF 2026
In the category Icelandic short films, three films that were created during studies at the department will be shown. The short films are Gegnheil eik (Solid Oak) by Höskuld Þór Jónsson, former student, Þessi fallegi dagur (This Beautiful Day) by Hanna Hulda Hafthórsdóttir, graduated from BA studies, and Vanstillta kanínan eftir Tsjekov (The Disturbed Rabbit by Chekhov) by Alvin Huga Ragnarsson, also a graduate of the BA program. The Disturbed Rabbit by Chekhov is produced in co-production at the Latvijas Kultūras akadēmija in Riga.
In the category Icelandic Short Films Student Competition films by students of the Department of Film will also be screened. They are Á allra vörum (Talk of the Town) by Alexandra Sól Jónasdóttir, Hekla by Jóna María Hjartardóttir and Til hamingju, fáviti! (Congratulations, Asshole!) by Orra Guðmundsson. The program also includes Swallow Me Home (Heima og Heiman), a graduation film by students at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, coproduced with Iceland University of the Arts.
Faculty are also taking part in RIFF. Heather Millard, adjunct lecturer at the department, coproduced the feature Brace Your Heart, directed by Amanda Kernell and the documentary Full Steam Ahead directed by Susan Muska and Gréta Ólafsdóttir. Brace Your Heart comes to RIFF after premiering at San Sebastián and the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film won Special Jury Award in the Platform competition. Heatheralso produced the short film Sundruð (Hold It Together) directed by Fan Sissoko, wwhich is screening in Icelandic Short Films.
Guðrún Elsa Bragadóttir, assistant professor at the Department of Film will moderate the panel in connection with the screening of the documentary Full Steam Ahead: Women, Energy, and Equality. The panel Full Steam Ahead takes place after the screening on September 26 at 17:05.
Nordic Panorama
The Department of Film is also represented at Nordisk Panorama, a Nordic festival of short films and documentaries held annually in Malmö, Sweden.
Heather Millard co-produced two short films that where screened at the festival, Sundruð (Hold It Together) by Fan Sissoko and Postcards (Póstkort) by Freyja Kristinsdóttir.
Jóna Gréta Hilmarsdóttir, alum from the Department of Film, also participates in the project Donuts (Kleinur) with director Birna Ketilsdóttir Schram. They present the project on behalf of the production company Norður.
The participation of students, graduates and staff of the Department of Film in international and Nordic film festivals reflects the range of the department's filmmaking and its ties to the industry, at home and abroad.
More information about RIFF and Nordisk Panorama can be found below.
See you at the cinema!