The Huffington Post praises RIFF
Mark Leigh receives the RIFF honarary award at the President's residence in Bessastadir Ómar Óskarsson
The Reykjavik International Film Festival, which came to a close last weekend, received great reviews in an article published in the Huffington Post today. RIFF's guest of honour was British director Mike Leigh and over 100 films were screened at various cinemas in Reykjavík. The Huffington Post calls RIFF the Tectonic meeting point of European and American Indie Cinema.
"The silver screen lining in Leigh's appearance, of course, is that it highlights how strenuously RIFF strives to avoid the equally boorish celebrity worship that infects other European festivals (from Berlin to Venice to Cannes). This was confirmed by Hrönn Marinósdóttir, the highly capable black-clad festival director frequently spied on her black bike whizzing around the 101 (Icelanders' term for the 9,000-strong Reykjavik city center). As Marinósdóttir informed me at Restaurant MAR overlooking the old harbor, RIFF's "cultural strategy" is to display gutsy indie filmmakers who reflect the "young, innovative and authentic" feeling of Reykjavik itself."
For the full article click here.
