Patricio Elizondo began his studies with the first group of students at the international department at  The Icelandic Film School this august.

We asked him first how he came across the school?

A few months back I did some research on film programs around the world. I was searching for a place to workshop scripts, produce films and tell stories with people who shared my interest of inspiring others and shifting ideas for the greater good. I stumbled upon the CILECT website which is the association of the world’s major film and television schools, when you first enter their site there is a map of the world with red pins of the different schools placed all around… I found a few options I was very interested in and one of those red pins I chose was in Iceland (IFS).

Mr. Elizondo majored in Radio, Television, and Film at the University of Texas at Austin.

I finished my bachelor’s degree there back in 2015. I mainly focused on 3D storytelling, editing, cinematography, and horror screenwriting.

And he is happy with his first months in Iceland.

Things are going great. Classes have been enriching and inspiring. A while back I had lost my motivation to write and produce stories, which is why I came here in the first place, but it’s been exciting to work with every new teacher we’ve had and get the most out of anyone who is there to help us. I am also eager to collaborate with the other students from the different departments and get to know this beautiful place through their own eyes and personal experience.

But if any, what would he say are the perks of studying at IFS and in Iceland?

I got a feeling during my Skype interview… that sensation you rarely get when something that crosses your path is right and nothing else is. I was asked personal questions and was expected to give truthful answers with meaning. I felt they cared for my vision and my passion and I believe one of the perks of being here is growing within an institution that fosters the truthful development of my own voice… Working with professionals and other students who tend to what I stand for and my goals.

I also think Iceland is very special. It’s exciting to be here during this change, growth, and development it’s been having these past few years. I have been given the opportunity and access to this place, its people, and its culture in ways only very few are lucky to have experienced.

The goal for Mr. Elizondo is to produce documentaries and films that will help shape ideas about certain subjects; i.e. social class disparities, LGBT issues, what is happiness, how to measure morality, dreams, fears, and many others.

I am here to get formal training and practice screenwriting, directing, and filmmaking in general. I come from a country that lacks opportunities for the majority but I have been lucky enough to stand here now and learn from the world and what it’s got to offer… I want to work towards providing this opportunity for everyone else. I am here hoping to find inspiration, myself, and my own voice. I want to experience everything this country has to offer, learn the language, understand the culture, make great friends that will last a lifetime, and call Iceland home.

Growing within an institution that fosters the truthful development of one´s own voice – Patricio Elizondo on IFS

1st semester students continued their first course, TAEK 107, where all the departments of the school learn the basics of film making and began shooting their first film, which they will be premiering soon.

2nd semester students of Directing and Producing took a course in scheduling for television with the 3rd semester of Acting, under the guidance of Baldvin Albertsson, as well as taking art history with Lee Lorenzo Lynch. They also continued a course in Directing with Börkur Gunnarsson (Thetta Reddast) with the students of Script writing and Directing. 4th semester students did a course in documentary making with Helga Rakel Rafnsdottir (Keep Frozen, Salome) and a script course with Huldar Breidfjords (Pabbahelgar, Under the tree) with the 4th semester of Script writing and Directing, where they will be working towards a script for their graduation project.

2nd semester students of Creative Technology sat a course in cinematography with went to the set of a new Icelandic film with their teacher to assist, as well as beginning to shoot their short film without dialogue. 3rd semester students began a course in sound editing with and finished a course in film effects with Sigurgeir Arinbjornsson (Stella Blomkvist, Star Trek: Discovery). 4th semester students took a production course with the 4th semester of Script writing and Directing under the guidance of Arnar Benjamins (A Reykjavik Porno, Þorsti) and continued preparing their graduation projects with their guide Olafur De Fleur (Borgriki, Malevolent). 
On top of that the 4th semester sat a course in founding production companies and applications, as well as a class in current film history.

2nd semester students of Script writing and Directing sat a course in script writing for television, where they will write a pilot for their own show under the direction of Dogg Mosesdottir(Höfundur Óþekktur, Me & Bobby Fischer), art history with Lee Lorenzo Lynch and sat a course in Directing with Borkur Gunnarsson (Thetta Reddast) along with students of Directing and Producing. 
4th semester students sat a course in producing with Arnar Benjamins (A Reykjavik Porno, Thorsti) and a course in rewriting a full length script with Hrafnkell Stefansson (Kurteist Folk, Borgriki), as well as a course in founding production companies and applications, as well as a class in current film history.

2nd semester students of Acting did a course in acting technique with Runar Gudbrandsson (Svartur a Leik) and finished a course in stage battles along with the 3rd semester, guided by Arna Magnea Danks (Trapped, Stella Blomkvist),with a wonderful display. 3rd semester students also took a course in scheduling for television with the 2nd semester of Directing and Producing headed by Baldvin Albertsson. 
4th semester sat a course in script writing with Kolbrun Anna Bjornsdottir (Svartir Englar) , a refresher course in vocal work with Thorey Sigthorsdottir (Agnes, Kaldaljos) and then a course in the making of a dance video with Kolbrun Anna Bjornsdottir (Svartir Englar) and Rut Hermannsdottir. 
On top of that the 4th semester sat a course in founding production companies and applications, as well as a class in current film history.

During graduation tomorrow Saturday, we will as per tradition be awarding prizes for the best graduation films according to an outside jury. Four prizes will be awarded for the best films in each department and then the main award, “BJARKINN”, will be awarded to the best film from the spring graduates. 

The graduation group of spring 2018 is a plethora of talents and therefor the competition is close between the films. 

The school has worked since 2009 from the premise that an outside jury, formed by professionals in the front row of the Icelandic film and television industry, decides which films are chosen. Many of the elite artists in the field have been jury members for the school. By doing this, the school can put an emphasis on the productions being of enough quality for the best in the business. For the students the views and opinions of the successful people in the industry are valuable.  

The jury this spring is formed by the following persons that are in the front row of Icelandic film makers; Isold Uggadottir director (Jury forman), Agnes Johansen producer, Bjarni Felix Bjarnason cinematographer, Olafur Egilsson actor and screenwriter, and Hera Olafsdottir producer.

With her first film “And breathe normally”, that premiered last winter, immediately put Isold in the forefront of the younger generation of Icelandic directors. Isold has a long career of quality short films and a university degree from New York. 

Agnes has one of the most impressive filmography of Icelandic producers on IMDb of this century. From 2003 she has produced, or co-produced, 11 films and one grand television series. The latest being “Vargur” (directed by Borkur Sigthorsson) which is in cinemas right now. Among the films are “The Deep”, “The Groom”, “Reykjavik Rotterdam” and “Sumerland”. Agnes has worked with the companies of Baltasar Kormakur, director and film producer, through most of her career. 

Bjarni has shot 4 full length films and numerous documentaries. He has a wealth of experience in cinematography after more than 20 years in the field. 

Hera has had varied producing experiences before she took on the role of purchasing manager of national and Scandinavian material for The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. We must mention that Hera is one of the people that has put her mark on The Icelandic Film School. As Department manager of Directing and Producing between 2009 and 2011, she played a major role in updating the curriculum and organisation of production process that have been a great success.  

He is currently a script adviser for The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Known for his screen writing in the first series of “Trapped” and the film “The Oath”, which he co-wrote the script with Baltasar Kormakur. He recently received an award for the script of “Woman at war” at the Cannes film festival, which co-wrote with the films director. 

It is an honor for the school that these experienced film makers have given their time to watch so many films, value them and judge, and reach a joint decision for the award. Finally we must mention that as a respected art school, IFS has a policy that competing in the arts is always relative. But competition is always encouraging, success can be sweet and defeat empowering, but above all one needs to not take the conclusion too seriously. 

We invite you to be a part of The Film Schools graduation of Spring 2018 at Bio Paradis, Saturday the 26th of May at 1 pm. 

High profile jury in the graduating film competition

The Icelandic Film School is celebrating its 25th year this September. We plan to commemorate this in various ways and there are many exciting things being prepared, but the full schedule will be revealed later this month. To start with we will be showing films from our vast archive that has almost 2000 films. The schools employees have, to start with, chosen 25 films that will be shown on our social networks until October and we will start this weekend.

The Icelandic Film School is 25 years old !

We have before checked in on Dadi Einarsson, a graduate from Screen writing and Directing, but it was certainly time to revisit. There are exciting times ahead at Myrkur Games and Dadi is a vital part of the making of “The Darken“, as you can read on Myrkur Games homepage ;

As Myrkur’s lead writer and performance director, it’s Daði’s job to shape The Darken’s story into tangible scenes. From writing scripts to directing actors and cameras, Daði pretty much represents the “cinematic” part of “cinematic experience.”

There’s a lot of excitement at the office these days, filming is set to begin next week and the entire company is in full swing getting everything prepared. We’re sound-proofing the space, ordering new equipment from abroad and doing lots of test shoots. It’s a lot like the last days of pre-production on a film, everything has to be in place before we start!If we do our work properly, we should be able to film the scenes in the game as if they were a theater play, with the actors doing it all in one go and the cameras and lighting added in afterwards. No concessions made.Right now, I’m in the middle of writing the script for the next filming block, as well as completing the casting for it. It’s incredible, these last few days I’m constantly noticing how invaluable my time at the Icelandic Film School was, both in casting actors I met at school and teaching me how to handle these sorts of stressful situations! It’s just like preparing for a graduation project, only this time it’s a video game and we’re using cutting-edge technology.It’s almost been a year since I started at Myrkur, and I say this every time but it always feels like we’re on the up-tick and moving forwards. New equipment, innovative technology and constant testing means we’re always looking at new exciting results.I’m very excited to start directing again, I hope it’s like riding a bicycle, because it’s been a year since I last directed something.

Dadi Einarsson, a graduate from The Film School, is looking at some exciting times ahead

Leszek Daszkowski has not made his disability stop his dream to study at the Icelandic Film School. Creative technology happened to be his choice and now he has finished the project that one might imagine being almost impossible for him to solve.

A deaf polish student at the Icelandic Film School happens to speak no Icelandic and therefore communicates through an interpreter. In his studies he was confronted with a challenging project working sound. Being expected to hand in a solution with a minute long sound file representing a feeling or an event did however not cause him til give up.  To enable himself to cope with this project Leszek wisely choose avalanche as a theme.

Having chosen Creative Technology as my field I am mainly aiming at cinemagraphy and editing as a future career. This course however also concentrates on sound in films so understandably I was not too taken with that part of the course. Anyway – Me and Olafur Fannar, head of Creative Technology had a good talk and later I sat down with Gísli (Magnús Torfason) who is in charge sound-technology and the computers at IFS and he tought me everything I needed to know, how to work out the computerprogram etc. No less important was being able to rely on my translators help to realize some of the sounds and I´m very grateful for having her insights to assist me.

Understandably Leszek found not being able to hear his own results in the project to be the hardest part.

Still, if there is a bass sound I can rather feel that then for example two people having a conversation, something I can hardly work with. But loud sounds and bass I can deal with. By holding my hand on a loudspeaker I can sense the vibration.

Having good descriptions of sounds in the collection of sound files in IFS was  a great help for Leszek. He was of course only able to use sounds properly registered.

Using all that made it possible for me to choose the most suitable sounds for my project and things looked good from reading the sound meter alone.

Only under such constrictions working on sound-projects will be possible for Leszek again.

Working on thunder sounds or explosions are suitable for me. I admit that coming to my first lesson I did not feel particularly amused by the idea of working on sound. But after Gísli started teaching me I grew confidence and started enjoying the whole experience. He also kept a good eye on me and showed up every once in awhile to guide me. Apart from that I worked on the project on my own.

It took Leszek a whole week to finish his work and the results are really impressive. 

Thunder sounds or explosions are suitable for me – Leszek Daszkowski can´t hear his own project

IFS graduates make a colorful Color Run Video

Bolli Mar Bjarnason graduated from Acting at The Icelandic Film School and has been doing good things since. We got a hold of him and asked him about his time at The Film School and what the future might hold

I was just the other day looking at a picture of me from the first day of school. I was rocking denim on denim and a black cap. I knew little about what I was getting myself into, just thought I wanted to be an actor. I realize now when I think back how incredibly bad I am at remembering things from the past, I just get a certain feeling when I think of the years at school. But it is a warm and good feeling so that must say a lot and I always feel gratitude when I think of that time and the step I took. IFS is run by beautiful ideals and stubbornness, elements that move mountains and give a kid like me tools to work with in life. It still follows me and always will.

To describe what I do today it is best summarized by “This and that, mainly that”

I am working at Pipar\TBWA, an amazing advertising agency where I make commercials with ridiculously fantastic people from all over the place. The studies is of great use for me in this business, I make videos, write a lot of texts and of course take a position in front of the camera. All of these are certainly jobs that the school tutored me in but possibly the most important fact is that at IFS you learned to work within a group with nothing but an idea and then having to apply everyone’s individual talents to make quality productions. That is exactly what I do at work now. The idea simply has to be solid enough to carry all that is added.

Then every once in a while interesting acting jobs will come my way and I am looking to do even more. The teacher Agusta Margret once offered me to help me make a showreel and of course it is ridiculous that I have not done it yet. Does the offer still stand Agusta? And then I have some interesting material I have been working on with boys at the Film School. It will be shown in due time.

As those close to me know I am a football fanatic and my team Throttur Reykjavik has a giant place in my heart. Which is why I am on the administrative board for Throttur Football division. A good win in Laugardalur (the heart of Reykjavik) on a good Sunday makes life whole. And speaking of making life whole, I met my girlfriend at school, Berglind Halla Eliasdottir. She is now completing her final year in acting at the University as well as being with me, a full time job to begin with. But joking aside, she is truly amazing and a hugely talented actress.

Plenty on the drawing board with Bolli and the future will be exciting

As Eggert Thorleifsson said in the legendary film “Dalalíf” (Dalelife): „Líf og fjör” (Exciting times)

Bolli Mar Bjarnason, a graduate of Acting

Is it not time to let your light shine in the world of film making? A wonderful opportunity is available to get a better insight on the studies we offer, within the school the four diplomas available are ;

Directing and Producing / Creative Technology / Screen Writing and Directing / Acting 

This Thursday, February 21st, we will have an open house from 1 pm to 4 pm, a great opportunity to get more information about the studies, visit a class in session and speak with the teachers and school staff.

There will be organized sight seeing tours of the school every 30 minutes from 1:30 pm to 4 pm.

Further information is available on our Facebook page 

The Film School invites you for a visit !

Recently The Icelandic Film School presented a new Twitter-account under the title IFS news, aimed to distribute film news from all over the globe.

Eysteinn Guðni Guðnason has been engaged as an editor. We were interested in learning more about  IFS news.

It is in IFS interest to follow all developments in the film industry very closely. We are not only putting our money on Hollywood and Europe but the world on its whole. It is our goal to be always up to date and present our followers with the hottest news available.

According to Guðni IFS news is not only publishing news with inside IFS information but answer readers questions on things in different parts of the world, being the newest star in Korea or which film just won a film award in Brazil?

Of course most of our news come from the USA or India – the largest producers on the market, but smaller countries are also important to us.

Eysteinn Guðni is a 31 year old country boy, a son of a minister who moved to Reykjavík to study film-making. He graduated from IFS in 2005.

I´m proud to be in the group of the first graduates to study at IFS after it changed to a two year course and since then I have been working in different areas of the business. I have been working on restoration of old video material and later I worked for awhile for Icelandic Cinema Online. Now aside with my IFS news work I am also entrusted with youth work for the Baha’i community in Iceland and in my spare time I have been in charge Icelandic film material for the Icelandic film web www.kvikmyndir.is.

One could jump to the conclusion that Eysteinn Guðni has found his dream job.

I would say that it´s a real dream job if you have fun doing it. Everyone should of course try to change ones hobby to a career if possible. Should it be your passion for the environment, working with kids or making music.  Yes, films and the internet happen to be my main interests – but what really makes working for IFS news a real dream job is the fact that I get to share all these interesting new with others – watching others discover something new because I shared it is a shear pleasure. For that reason I would like to have as many followers on Twitter as possible…

What makes working for IFS news a real dream job?- Eysteinn Guðni Guðnasson is IFS news editor

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson has taken on the job of dean of the Icelandic Film School through this year. He will be taking over the reigns from Hilmar Oddsson, who left last spring after having successfully done the job for 7 years. Friðrik Þór is one of Iceland’s most recognized film makers and has had a long and fruitful career both as director and producer. He has made experimental films, documentaries and feature films. In each category he has films that must be considered classics of Icelandic film making. Friðrik Þór has received multiple awards and acknowledgements in his career, but his most known work must be “Children of nature”, a film nominated for the Academy Awards.
Friðrik Þór intends to emphasize the making of films even further within the school and will be supporting the students in their film making.
We are quite proud and fortunate to have Friðrik Þór to head up our facility.

Nomina Sunt Odiosa, 1975 (shortfilm)
Brennu Njáls saga, 1980 (shortfilm)
Eldsmiðurinn, 1981 (documentary)
Rokk í Reykjavík, 1982 (documentary)
Kúrekar norðursins, 1984 (documentary)
Hringurinn, 1985 (80 minute fast forward around route 1 in Iceland)
Skytturnar, 1987
Börn náttúrunnar (Children of nature), 1991
Bíódagar, 1994
Á köldum klaka, 1995
Djöflaeyjan, 1996
Englar alheimsins, 2000
Fálkar, 2001
Niceland, 2004
Sólskinsdrengurinn, 2009 (documentary)
Mamma Gógó, 2010

As well as producing over 75 varied films

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson has been appointed Dean of The Icelandic Film School

Dadi Einarsson is a graduate from Screen writing and Directing at The Icelandic Film School and we got a chance to find out what he is working on

Dadi Einarsson on “The Darken: Echoes of the End”

The short film “Angel” was the graduation project of Haraldur Sigurjónsson that graduated from Screen writing and Directing fall semester 2010.

We got to talk to Haraldur and in his words:

I graduated from Screen writing and Directing in December 2010. By then I had already worked in the making of television shows and documentaries since 1997, or more than a decade. In January 2008 I decided to make a life long dream come true, to study screen writing. One of the very best decisions I have made in my life. At The Icelandic Film School I got to both listen to and converse with people such as Einar Kárason, Huldar Breiðfjörð, Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, Guðný Halldórsdóttir, Böðvar Bjarki, Árni Ólaf Ásgeirsson, Sigrún Sól Ólafsdóttur, Hlín Agnarsdóttur, Hilmari Oddsson and many more, besides getting to know a large group of young and inspiring film makers and actors, many of whom are still my friends today. To add to it I also was able to make 4 pretty good short films that have been shown around the world. One of them even won “Short film days in Reykjavik” in 2010, the film “Do you have water?”. That film travelled far and got very positive feedback. My graduation film “Angel” however is the one shown here.Since I graduated I have mostly worked in editing and directing of various television shows, documentaries, commercials and the like. The screen writing studies did benefit me greatly even though I am not writing every day, because there are huge similarities between screen writing and editing. One has to sit alone for a long time to create something that has good structure, good flow and emotions so the audience stays glued to the screen.Among the television shows I have edited and/or directed are 5 series of “Andri á flandri” or “Andraland”, 4 series of “Hljómskálinn”, a 12 show documentary serie “Popp og rokksaga Íslands” and “Árið er: Söngvakeppni sjónvarpsstöðvanna”. In total I have won, with my genius coworkers, 5 Eddas for this show making and even more nominations. When it comes to documentaries “Spólað yfir hafið” is in the forefront, as I editied that for Andri Freyr Viðarsson.The future contains more of the same. Hopefully more episodes of “Hljómskálinn” and something fun with Andri Freyr Viðarsson. At the moment I am working a lot for SKOT productions, editing numerous projects, like the new show from Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon and more interesting projects. Personally I am also working on some documentaries and if there is time in he future, I hope to write the coveted feature film script

To celebrate the 25th year of operations of The Icelandic Film School, we will be showing 25 chosen works of our graduates from the past few years. This time we will be showing the short film “City lights” from the spring semester of 2015

The short film “City lights” was the graduation project of Olafur Einar Olafarson, a graduate of the Screen writing and Directing department in the spring semester of 2015

Speaking with director Olafur Einar, he said;

Besides getting an in depth knowledge into everything to do with film making, studying at The Icelandic Film School gives you an opportunity to create a network of connections with people that will be working in all aspects of the industry in Iceland. I do not have experience from film schools abroad, but in this aspect The Icelandic Film School is a much better prospect if you intend to be part of the film making industry in Iceland and work here. I am now self employed with a producing company called Arheim ehf. We str-arted shooting a big project last september

Search results

Growing within an institution that fosters the truthful development of one´s own voice – Patricio Elizondo on IFS

The Icelandic Film School for 25 years

Never a dull moment

High profile jury in the graduating film competition

The Icelandic Film School is 25 years old !

Dadi Einarsson, a graduate from The Film School, is looking at some exciting times ahead

Thunder sounds or explosions are suitable for me – Leszek Daszkowski can´t hear his own project

Test

IFS graduates make a colorful Color Run Video

Bolli Mar Bjarnason, a graduate of Acting

The Film School invites you for a visit !

What makes working for IFS news a real dream job?- Eysteinn Guðni Guðnasson is IFS news editor

Friðrik Þór Friðriksson has been appointed Dean of The Icelandic Film School

Dadi Einarsson on “The Darken: Echoes of the End”

Graduation Fall 2019

“Angel” is our next short film

25 films for 25 years

Iceland is the right place to study

Diplomas

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