PRODUCER’S DAY

Venue: Ráðhús Reykjavikur Date: Thursday 6th of October Time: 09:30-13:00 Iceland is naturally geolocated between North America and Europe, making it a perfect place to link continents, industries and professionals. The Producers’ Day builds a bridge between regions and offers an innovative space for creative exchange and a breeding ground for new partnerships. With a focus on Nordic and EU co-productions, producers from these regions will talk about the challenges and opportunities of their line of work, as the world emerges from a pandemic and new injustices present themselves. In line with the Spanish Focus of RIFF 2022, a Spanish delegation will be present at this year’s Producer’s Day.

LILJA BJÖRK GUÐMUNDSDÓTTIR

MODERATOR

Lilja Björk Guðmundsdóttir works for the Federation of Icelandic Industries. She is the Key Account Manager for the Association of Icelandic Film Producers (SÍK) working closely with the board as well as members towards the best possible economic, legislative, and regulatory environment for the Icelandic film industry.

ICELANDIC DELEGATION AGNES JOHANSEN

After 15 years of working in television, Agnes Johansen was recruited as line producer on Baltasar Kormakur’s The Sea (2001). Subsequently she joined his production company Blueeyes Productions as producer and has continued to produce under the label of RVK Studios since its launch in 2012. Production credits include: Jar City (2006), White Night Wedding (2008), Reykjavik Rotterdam (2008), The Deep (2012) Virgin Mountain (2015) and The Oath (2016), as wll as television series Trapped (2016-2022) and Katla (2021).

ANTON MÁNI SVANSSON

Anton Máni Svansson co-founded Join Motion Pictures in 2007 with the ambition to forge close working relationships with upcoming writer-director talents. Over the last 15 years, he has worked as a producer and CEO of the company, and his productions have sold worldwide and been selected for many of the most prestigious film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, San Sebastian, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, BFI, IDFA, Telluride, and Toronto. These films have collected around 200 awards and many nominations.

ARNAR BENJAMÍN KRISTJÁNSSON

Arnar Benjamín holds a MA degree in Business and Producing from the Met Film School and a MMM degree in Marketing from Bifröst University. He has been a producer at Zik Zak Filmworks since 2018.

PRODUCER’S DAY

RIFF 2022

more info and tickets at riff .is and on the app

ICELANDIC DELEGATION BIRGITTA BJÖRNSDÓTTIR

Birgitta Björnsdóttir was born and raised in Reykjavik, Iceland. After fi nishing her BA in English at the University of Iceland, she subsequently started an MA in Filmmaking at the London Film School. After graduating, she started working at the Icelandic production company Zik Zak Filmworks. In 2011 she co-founded Vintage Pictures. Birgitta was chosen as a Producer on the Move by the European Film Promotion for Cannes in 2018 and was selected as one of Screen Daily´s 25 Global Future Leaders in 2018 for their Cannes Issue.

HEATHER MILLARD

HLÍN JÓHANNESDÓTTIR

Co-founder of Compass Films, Iceland, Heather Millard has produced a variety of internationally award-winning documentary fi lms, feature fi lms, shorts and animated fi lms as well as service produced international television series. She has been working in the fi lm & television industry in the UK since 2005 and relocated to Iceland in 2009. Her productions have been licensed internationally to broadcasters and SVOD platforms and released theatrically in numerous territories.

Hlín Jóhannesdóttir has worked in fi lm production since 2000. She has worked with many of Iceland ´s most successful directors on feature fi lms and documentaries. Hlín owns and runs the production company Ursus Parvus in Reykjavik. Hlín is the co-founder and head of production of JONAA.org and serves as the Head of Production at The Icelandic Film School. Hlín has been the chair of The Icelandic Film & TV Academy since 2016. She is now working for Pegasus Pictures as a producer.

Sigurjon (Joni) Sighvatsson, a veteran producer with over 50 feature fi lms and television series to his credit, has worked with some of the most successful fi lmmakers in the industry, including David Lynch, Kathryn Bigelow, Jim Sheridan and Julian Schnabel. Among his fi lms are Brothers, Z for Zachariah, Killer Elite, as well as classics such as Wild at Heart, Arlington Road, and Basquiat. More recently, Sighvatsson has branched out into documentary directing and he is making his directorial debut with Exxtinction Emergency.

MINNINGAR / MINNEN

SIGURJÓN SIGHVATSSON

SPANISH DELEGATION CARLOS PARDO ROS

MARINA LAMEIRO

RAFA MOLÉS VILAR

Carlos Pardo Ros is a Spanish fi lmmaker who works as a director and producer. In 2017 he founded DVEIN Films. He has so far produced short fi lms premiered and awarded at festivals like Locarno, San Sebastián, Mar del Plata, Visions du Reel, FIDMarseille and Viennale. He is a member of Lacasinegra Collective (together with Gabriel Azorín, María Antón Cabot and Elena López) and is also a member of DVEIN together with Teo Guillem. His fi rst feature fi lm as director, “H”, premiered at Visions du Réel in 2022.

Marina Lameiro holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the URJC and a Master’s Degree in Creative Documentary from IDEC-UPF and a Postgraduate Degree in Audiovisual Editing from the same university. She was part of the Collaborative Studio of UnionDocs in New York City as an artist in residence. She is the producer, director and screenwriter of several documentaries including the feature fi lm Young & Beautiful that, among other awards, won the Special Audience Award at the Punto de Vista Festival in 2018.

Rafa Molés Vilar is a director, scriptwriter and journalist. He has a Bachelors in Information Sciences with 20 years of experience in the audiovisual sector. In 2012 he received the award Journalist of the Year in the III Edition of the Journalistic Awards of the Valencian Community. Together with Pepe Andreu, he is the creator of the audiovisual production company SUICAfi lms where they direct and produce all their projects. He has been recognized twice as Best Producer of the Year at the PROA Awards.

PRODUCER’S DAY

RIFF 2022

more info and tickets at riff.is and on the app

NORDIC DELEGATION DYVEKE BJØRKLY GRAVER

Dyveke Bjørkly Graver worked at Cinenord between 2009 and 2017, where she produced and co-produced 8 feature films and worked with several tv-series. In 2017 she started as a producer at Oslo Pictures, and during the fall of 2019, became CEO of the company. In Oslo Pictures she has executive produced “The Worst Person in the World”, which premiered in Cannes Competition in 2021. The film won the Best Actress award in Cannes and was later nominated for two Oscars.

JASMINE NAGHIZADEH

JÓN HAMMER

Jasmine is a graduate of The Danish School of Media and Journalism under their Media Management programme. She has worked with a number of different production companies, both in fiction as well as in documentaries. Since 2019, she has produced exclusively for Nimbus Film where her slate includes having produced the feature film MY ROBOT BROTHER (2022) and an upcoming series for DR, while also having served as development producer on the Viaplay series WHERE WERE YOU (2022).

MINNINGAR / MINNEN Jón Hammer first cut his teeth at Lars von Trier’s Zentropa, before moving on to independent powerhouse Adomeit Film Denmark and founding his own production company Kykmyndir / KYK Pictures. Jón is a member of European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) and the Faroese producer of the first ever Faroese TV drama series, award-winning eco-crime thriller TROM, shown on Viaplay, DR, BBC, ZDF/Arte, AMC+ and SBS among others.

MARK LWOFF

Founded in 2007 and led by producers Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff, Bufo has produced a number of films of which many have received international recognition. Based in Helsinki, the ambitious and thrill-seeking company concentrates on plot-driven and meaningful stories that can also entertain big audiences. Bufo’s films all share the elements of clear artistic vision, innovation and high quality.

TORFINNUR JÁKUPSSON

Torfinnur Jákupsson is a Faroese screenwriter, showrunner and executive producer with a background in journalism and music. He is also CEO of GRÓ Studios, the first studio of its kind in the Faroe Islands. Represented by Danske Dramatikere and Swedish boutique agency Albatros, Torfinnur is the creator and head writer of the first ever Faroese TV drama series, award-winning eco-crime thriller TROM, shown on Viaplay, DR, BBC, ZDF/ Arte, AMC+ and SBS among others.