New board of the Film School
The Annual General Meeting of the Icelandic Film School was held in late summer and a new board of the school was elected.
The chairman of the board is, as before, Böðvar Bjarki Pétursson, but also elected to the board were Arnbjorg Sveinsdottir, Ingimundur Sigurpalsson, Oddny Sen and Orn Palmason.
Bodvar Bjarki, is the founder and main owner of The Film School, but the school's history can be traced back to 1992 when the first courses under the name Kvikmyndaskoli Islands were held. Since then, the school has grown and prospered and the school has graduated hundreds of students, but this winter 115 students are studying at the school in four departments: Directing and Producing, Acting, Screenwriting and Directing, and Creative Technology. The Film School's application in collaboration with the University of Iceland for recognition of the program at a university level, is currently being finalized by the Ministry of Education.
Bodvar Bjarki was the director of the Icelandic Film Museum from 1992 to 2000 and was responsible for the development of the museum. He is an active producer of films and has produced almost 30 films, both feature films, documentaries and television series, from 1990 to 2005.
Arnbjorg Sveinsdottir was a member of parliament for the East Fjords constituency and later the Northeast constituency in the years 1995-2009 under the auspices of the Independence Party and she was chairman of the parliamentary party 2005-2009. Arnbjörg was a member of the town council of Seydisfjordur 1986-1998 and was president of the town council 1994-1996. She was on the board of the Association of Local Authorities in East Iceland, chairman from 1991-1992 and was at the same time chairman of the Regional Association of municipalities.
Arnbjorg has been active in supporting the arts and culture all over the country and played an important role in the development of art in their hometown.
Ingimundur Sigurpalsson is multifaceted in Icelandic business and industry and has held numerous positions of responsibility and confidentiality in that field. He has also played a leading role in the field of local government as mayor and councilman of Gardabaer, but he resigned from that in 2000, when he took over as CEO of Eimskip. From 2004, he served as CEO of Islandspostur, until he resigned from full employment in the spring of 2019, but has since been involved in investment projects and board work.
Ingimundur has served on various committees at the level of the state and municipalities and on the boards of various companies and institutions. For example the chairmanship of the board of the Confederation of Icelandic Employers, Isavia and Landsvirkjun and the board of directors of the State Employees' Pension Fund, the University Council of the Iceland University of Education, Flugleidir and Siminn.
Oddny Sen is a film critic, writer and teacher. She studied film, film history and filmmaking at the University of Paris and graduated with a master's degree and the first part of a PhD. She is, parallel to her work at the Icelandic Film School, the project manager of film education for primary and secondary schools in Bio Paradis.
She also works with the project Young Audience Award Festival at the Icelandic Film Center.
Orn Palmason has extensive experience in the business world. He works as the managing director of Hjola atvinnulifsins ehf., but his specialization at the school concerns the administration and operation of the school's premises.
Hjol atvinnulifsins is a company in various custom-made services, e.g. companies in the visual arts and the film industry.
