The Rector's graduation speech - December 16th, 2023

Dear graduates.

Now it is time to graduate from The Icelandic Film School in the autumn of 2023.

This is a turning point for you, dear students, and I know you are looking forward to it because now a new chapter in your career begins. I am sure the past two years have shown you that you have strength and capabilities that you didn't even know about and may have found an important key, but more on that later.

And now we are here.

It is a feat to reach this milestone, to graduate from The Icelandic Film School. The last two years have been a roller coaster ride, the demands on you have been high and each and everyone has had to put in the work, because no one gets here except on their own merits.

The highlight is then making a finished graduation film.

Your graduation film is a personal film work that confirms your ability to be driving forces in filmmaking. At the same time you prove yourselves as professional artists in your areas of expertise, be it directing, creative technology, screenwriting or acting. The ambition must also be great because the standards are high. In an annual international competition of film schools for the best graduation film, The Icelandic Film School has ranked high in the past decade. In addition, students' graduation films have entered festivals, received  awards and have been shown on television.

With each graduation, the staff at The Film School is always amazed at how much quality there is in your films, considering the tightness of the production. Don't forget that we who work at The Film School are more or less all working in the industry where things move at different speeds and always too slowly. But within The Film School, students are breaking the laws of time year after year with the production of films, which considering time limits, personnel, quantity and quality, should not be able to be created. We have long since realized that those students who make it all the way to graduation have the determination and endurance to constantly tackle solving the impossible. Like true heroes.

The Icelandic Film School is a remarkable institution and, I can say, a key part of the professional rise of filmmaking in Iceland for decades. The Icelandic Film School celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, as the school was founded in 1992. This year marks 20 years since the school received official recognition from the government in its field of expertise as a two-year diploma program in filmmaking. The current four-division system was established in 2007 and has therefore been in place for 16 years. The role of the school has always been, on the one hand, serving Icelandic youth who want to educate themselves in filmmaking, and on the other hand to service the film companies and contribute to the development of the industry. Those of you who are here to graduate have many possibilities. Regular surveys show that former students of The Film School are very prominent in film production in this country, be it in film production, at the television stations, the big film companies or in any of the many offshoots that have been created. Surveys also show that a very high percentage of graduates, or over 90%, work in the industry after completing their studies and close to 50% make it their life's work, which is a very high percentage from an art academy.

The film industry has grown tremendously since the school was founded, but then it created about 300 jobs per year. Today, annual jobs in the film industry and secondary jobs are 4-6 thousand. A powerful service industry has been created around foreign film companies, but Icelanders also break world records every year with the number of premiered domestic films based on the famous head count. In the future, it is not unreasonable to imagine that the Icelandic film industry can become an industry with 10,000 annual jobs and the industry can establish itself among the most prolific of the nation's currency-generating industries.

This situation has not arisen by itself. There are several important basic posts. One of them is the steady flow of professionals from The Icelandic Film School.  In 2005, the school began to work in its current form and to this day, with you included, 814 students have graduated from the school. On average we have graduated about 50 students per year since 2009. These students have returned to the industry and I assert that the role of The Film School in its development is considerable. Not only to handle the demand for the positions out there but also because within the school you create a community and network. That's how you drive the growth, keep going after graduation – creating your own and helping your friends create their cinematic achievement.

That's how miracles happen.

After graduation, you continue to build your personal career, perhaps with further education, work for others, or by just hurrying to make movies and television content. This is how you make yourself valuable to Icelandic business life, but no less importantly, to the culture.

Now to another matter.

Regarding the recognition issues of The Film School and confirmation of the school's university levels, then it is expected that the process will come to an end soon. The school got an excellent result in the international assessment last autumn. In April, the school submitted an action plan for suggestions that had come from the foreign experts. The film school has been fully operational according to university regulations from 2021 and maintains four research positions.

In addition, it must be mentioned that 26 foreign students are currently registered at The Icelandic Film School. These students come from the United States, France, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, China, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Germany. The goal is for the number to reach over 100 within three years and then be the same size as the group of Icelandic-speaking students at the school.

The school's request to the government is that the processing will be completed before the end of the year, and I have full faith that the dynamic university minister Áslaug Arna will now put her best foot forward to complete this mission.We will meet with Kinema's board before the end of the year and go over the situation in more detail.

Finally, I say to you graduates. This is your day. Enjoy it to the fullest.