Half Elf is nominated as best documentary for The Icelandic Film & Television Academy Award 2021. The Edda Award is an accolade bestowed annually by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy, and is the most prominent film and television award in Iceland, awarded annually in February. This year it will be in April, due to covid.
The Edda has awarded for outstanding work in various categories of film and television annually since 1999, except in 2009 due to the economic crash the year before. In 2010, the event was moved from the usual November date to February, and the eligibility period for that year was from 1 November 2008 to 30 December 2009. Since 2011, the eligibility period is the previous calendar year.
Five documentary films are nominated for the Edda Award this year, Against the Current, Resonance, Spare Parts A Song Called Hate and Half Elf.
The Icelandic Film & TV Academy (IKSA) unites the film makers associations in Iceland in co-owned organisation, which aim is to enhance the Icelandic film and TV industry. For pursuing this goal, the Academy operates the EDDA Awards, the annual film and TV awards in Iceland.
The EDDA awards are the Icelandic film scene harvesting festival with the aim to encourage professionalism in the industry. Members of the Academy vote on the work and individuals that are awarded each year.
The Icelandic Film & TV Academy is a member of Film Academies Network of Europe and is responsible for nominating Iceland’s submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Read more about this years nominations in each category here.
Jón Bjarki Magnússon, the director of Half Elf, will be presenting his paper, “The elf within: Negotiating dementia whilst filming with my family in Reykjavik, Iceland”, at the RAI Film Festival tomorrow. The presentation is part of a panel organized by Andy Lawrence at the University of Manchester, Martha-Cecilia Dietrich at the University of Amsterdam and Angélica Cabezas Pino at the University of Sussex, called “Empirical art: Filmmaking for fieldwork in practice | Politics and poetics of affect”.
In his presentation, Jón Bjarki looks at how the task of positioning himself whilst doing research with his aging grandparents shaped the form and findings of his research. Furthermore, he explores how ethical considerations, necessary for filming someone with dementia, helped him make sense of the complicated spheres that separates sanity and insanity, truth and lie, reality and fiction.
His case study is his feature-length documentary film Half Elf (2020), which is about his grandparents, Hulda and Trausti, both now recently deceased. The process of filming this story and editing a narrative demanded constant negotiation between what one knows as rational and emotional, closeness and distance, familiar and mysterious. The way he made peace was by merging the more pragmatic enterprise of producing a film with a poetic approach to using the camera. Filmmaking here allowed for a way of bridging seemingly incommensurable spheres revealing what it means to be human at the end of a fulfilled life.
Those interested can watch the panel here: https://festival.raifilm.org.uk/film/p26a-empirical-art/, which will be followed by discussions with William Callahan, researcher at the London School of Economics and Stephen Linstead, at the University of York.
A music video to Teitur Magnússons song, Hvíti dauði, directed by Jón Bjarki Magnússon and featuring footage from the Hálfur Álfur documentary, has been nominated to the Icelandic Music Awards. Eight videos are nominated this year and people can vote between the videos here on Albumm.is.
The Icelandic Music Awards are the official annual music awards given in Iceland to commemorate the musical achievements of the year. The award was established in 1993 with an annual rock award given by the Union of Icelandic Musicians. Since then, it has developed into a multi-category event held usually in January or February for awards of the previous year. Since 2002, the event has been sponsored by the Icelandic Music Association known as Samtónn. This year the award ceremony will be held in April.
In Hvíti dauði, Teitur is joined by artist Gunnar Jónsson Collider, who produced, recorded and mixed the track. The song was written by Teitur Magnússon. The lyrics are also by Teitur but also include passages from the Bible and Icelandic poet Bólu-Hjálmar’s poem, Mismunur, about an old man facing his death. Teitur sings and plays guitar whilst Gunnar adds vocals, instruments and a dreamy pop production. Old friends from Teitur’s own live band Æðisgengið also lend a hand, most notably Erling Bang and Hreiðar Már Árnason who add drums and percussion.
Teitur Magnússon is no stranger to Icelandic music lovers. After a string of releases with pop reggae outfit Ojba Rasta, Teitur stepped into the limelight in 2014 with his solo album 27. The album contained pop music tinged with shades of psychedelia and tropicália, and was followed up with 2018’s Orna to critical acclaim. Teitur was recently nominated for an Iceland Music award for his Orna single Skriftargangur.
Gunnar Jónsson Collider has released electronic and ambient music on Icelandic and foreign labels since 2015, when he caught the attention of critics with his Apeshedder EP. After remixing Teitur and dj. flugvél og geimskip’s single Lífsspeki, Gunnar formed a collaborative relationship with Teitur which has now borne fruit with the single Hvíti dauði.
Half Elf has been selected for the Main Competition at the RAI Film Festival of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, where it will be competing for the festival’s most prestigious honours – The RAI Film Prize and the Basil Wright Prize. Half Elf is one amongst thirteen films that compete in the Main Competition of this years edition, but the whole list and more information about each film can be seen here.
The RAI Film Festival celebrates documentaries from around the globe that engage with themes of culture & society. It has a special focus on anthropological and ethnographic films. First held in 1985, and one of the longest-established in its field, the RAI Film Festival serves as a leading forum for exploring the multiple relationships between documentary film-making, anthropology, visual culture, and the advocacy of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue through film.
The Festival assigns four prizes and four awards: RAI Film Prize; RAI Short Film Prize; Basil Wright Prize; Wiley Blackwell Student Prize; and Audience Prize. The Lifetime Achievement Award, President’s Award, Richard Werbner Award for Visual Ethnography and the Ethnomusicology Film Award.
Half Elf has been selected for Tromsø International Film Festival, TIFF, Norways biggest film festival. The film is one of six feature films included in this years “Films from the North” program, which presents “the best of new films made in the Barents region and other polar areas.” 34 short films, documentaries, student films and features are presented in total as part of this category this year.
The inaugural Tromsø International Film Festival was held in 1991. TIFF has 5 screening venues, including one outdoor snow cinema. The total of admissions in 2014 it was 58167, which makes TIFF Norway’s biggest film festival.
Films from the North is Tromsø International Film Festival’s program for films from the Barents Region and other circumpolar areas. The sidebar has traditionally been reserved for shorts and documentaries, with more than 8000 tickets sold annually. TIFF accepted feature length films into the program for the first time in 2019, and in 2020 they further expanded their scope by inviting Icelandic films to participate.
Films are qualified if the subject, the production or the director is connected to the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Canada, or Iceland.
Half Elf had its Icelandic premiere at the Skjaldborg, Icelandic documentary film festival, in Bíó Paradís in Reykjavík on the 19th of September, where it won the grand jury prize. The jury, which consisted of director Grímur Hákonarson, director Ugla Hauksdóttir and radio journalist Vera Illugadóttir had this to say about the film:
“A strong, solid story, sincerely told; an unpretentious film that captivates you from the first shot and makes you laugh and cry in equal measure. It features priceless characters that have a strong bond with nature and Icelandic cultural heritage. The film reminds you to not take life too seriously and to make sure you have fun, yet it also makes you think about death and it’s aftermath.”
“heartwarming and humane character study about a juncture in time where a hundredth birthday and a funeral might collide. Director Jón Bjarki Magnússon originally started working on the film as a project in visual anthropology and that angle gives the film more depth – this is not just a film about someone’s grandfather, but a film about a certain generation and a certain culture that is fading away. The singing that connects the main characters, the everyday traditions – peeling a banana, stirring a porridge, listening to the radio, writing down a shopping list – and the chit-chat, both between the elderly and also when Trausti performs for the camera; all of this gives an insight into a certain world that many will recognize and is really all around us, but is often forgotten, but the documentary form elevates it in a certain way.
Singing is a particularly big part of the film; singing as a unifying symbol – one starts singing and another joins in – I couldn’t help but think of my own grandfather, who was also a songster, particularly when in good company, just as many audience members probably connected Half Elf to something personal themselves. One of the strongest scene in the film is when Trausti gets a chance to sing in a group of people, after singing on his own through most of the film. The director keeps himself mostly in the distance and lets his grandfather enjoy the spotlight – the grandmother is less interested in showcasing herself, but opens up, in her own way, through singing and poetry. The film is dramatic in its nature, because it revolves around death in many ways, but is nevertheless really funny and entertaining, just like the main protagonist.”
Illugi Jökulsson, writer, journalist and former newspaper editor, was also very happy about the film:
“This is a bewitching and an uplifting film about old age. A little sad too, naturally, or perhaps bittersweet is a more accurate description. I’m fairly certain that many scenes and shots from the movie will linger in memory for a long time, and what is particularly remarkable is how Jón Bjarki trusts both himself and the audience to build a cogent picture of the old couple. You don’t get to know much about their past, bar for a few shots of the countryside, a lighthouse and a few words here and there – and this enough, you still feel like you know everything you need to know. And of course that scene with the cat is completely priceless. Congratulations Jón Bjarki and Hlín, this is a film I can heartily recommend without hesitation.”
“But the jewel in the crown of this year’s festival was ‘Hálfur álfur,’ which won the Grand Jury Prize. Here, filmmaker Jón Bjarki Magnússon documents the final days of his grandfather, leading from his 100-year birthday to his death. The film is touching but never overly sentimental—even very funny in parts. Saying farewell is a part of life and we should all hope for a send-off like this. The title is a reference to the fact that the grandfather believed himself to be a half-elf. It seems the elves came through for Skjaldborg after all.”
Jón Bjarki Magnússon, director of Half Elf, Federico Cammarata, the director of SALVO, Juan Francisco González, the director of Maria K and Leila Basma, the director of The Adam Basma Project, spoke about the making of their films, possible future projects, and different school backgrounds with moderator Luca D’Introno on Zoom last Thursday.
The online Q&A was the third in a series where directors of the Green Years section of doclisboa international film festival have come together to speak about their projects, but the directors are all taking their first steps in the field.
This is the second online Q&A Jón Bjarki partakes in this fall, but he had a very nice chat with moderator Robert Goodman of Nordisk Panorama about his film Half Elf, in September:
Half Elf is amongst ten films from Germany, Us/Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Austria, France and Romania that are nominated for the „New Voices of the Documentary cinema” awards at Astra Film Festival this year.
Half Elf was premiered on the Open Air edition of the festival, that ran through 4-13 September, but the second part of the festival is now ongoing online for viewers in Romania, and will be until the 25th of October.
Astra Film Festival describes the ten films that compete in the „New Voices of the Documentary cinema” competition this year as outstanding works, in many respects, that give viewers a glimpse into the frontline of documentary cinema
“These films are outstanding in many aspects: the ingenuity of choosing the right perspective, the courage to point at painful, or hard-to-capture topics, and through experimenting with the language of documentary cinema in their attempt to depict and evoke the reality that surrounds us. Watching these films one can have an idea about frontline and the mastery of documentary cinema, and the way it is practiced and embraced by filmmakers at the first part of their professional journey.”
Astra Film Festival promotes the use of documentary film as a means for cultural and cross-cultural understanding, and promotes the study, research and initiatives in the field of visual anthropology. Films must have cinematographic qualities, artistic commitment and strong presence of the filmmaker’s point of view both in form and content.
Half Elf has been selected for the 18th edition of Docslisboa international film festival, where it will be a part of the Green Years program, a section dedicated specially to students or authors who are taking the first steps on film direction.
Docslisboa will be held both in Lisbon in Portugal and online this year, due to the pandemic. The Green Years program will be available to viewers in Portugal between the 22nd of October and 3rd of November.
Docslisboa is one of seven key European documentary film festivals that form the Doc Alliance, a creative partnership between festivals such as Dok Leipzig, CPH:DOX and Cinema Du Réel. Roughly 24.000 people attend the festival each year.
Director Jón Bjarki Magnússon and Producer Hlín Ólafsdóttir with Ljóskastarinn, the jury prize at Skjaldborg, Icelandic documentary film festival, last Sunday. Photo: Patrik Ontkovic
Half Elf won the grand jury award at Skjaldborg – Icelandic Documentary Film Festival this past weekend. Director Jón Bjarki Magnússon and Producer Hlín Ólafsdóttir where at the award ceremony at Bíó Paradís art-house cinema on Sunday evening where they received Ljóskastarinn, the award prize. Director Kristín Andrea Þórðardóttir won the audience award, Einarinn, for her film, Er ást.
The jury, which consisted of director Grímur Hákonarson, director Ugla Hauksdóttir and radio journalist Vera Illugadóttir, describe Half Elf as strong and solid story with a narrative that is unpretentious and sincere. A film that grabs the viewer from the first minute and makes him both laugh and cry.
Director Grímur Hákonarson hands award prize Ljóskastarinn to director Jón Bjarki Magnússon. Photo: Patrik OntkovicDirector Jón Bjarki Magnússon and Producer Hlín Ólafsdóttir. Photo: Patrik OntkovicDirector Jón Bjarki Magnússon and Producer Hlín Ólafsdóttir answer a question from director Ísold Uggadóttir at the Q&A after the film screening. Photo: Patrik Ontkovic
Skjaldborg, Icelandic Documentary Film Festival normally takes place during the Whitsun weekend (a holiday weekend in Iceland celebrated fifty days after Easter Sunday with dates varying from May to June each year), but was postponed this year due to covid, until the first weekend of August (July 31st – August 2nd).
The festival was then postponed again one day before it was supposed to be held due to the rise of covid cases in the country. New dates where set for the 18th-20th of September, but during the days before the festivals, covid cases started to rise rapidly again. For some time it looked like the festival might be cancelled/postponed yet again, but this time around organizers managed to get it through till the end with the help of cinema goers who mostly attended the festival with their masks on.
Founded in 2007, the festival is the only specialised platform for the premiere of Icelandic documentaries and the home of the Icelandic documentary scene. The Icelandic documentaries premiering at the festival compete for the the coveted audience award Einarinn and Ljoskastarinn, the grand jury award. Half Elf is one of fourteen films selected for this years festival. More information about the festival here.
Magnús H. Traustason, father of the director, Ísar Guðni Arnarson and Ingunn Jónsdóttir, the mother of the director attended the screening with their masks on. Photo: Patrik Ontkovic.Director Jón Bjarki Magnússon and Producer Hlín Ólafsdóttir answer a question from director Ísold Uggadóttir at the Q&A after the film screening. Photo: Patrik OntkovicGísli Hvanndal Ólafsson was amongst those who attended the premiere with his mask on. Photo: Gunnar Jónsson
