STORIES WITH IMPACT

Venue: Ráðhús Reykjavikur Date: Friday 7th of October Time: 10:15-11:15 Moderator: Jessica Edwards

JESSICA EDWARDS

Recent years have seen an upsurge in “impact fi lms”: fi lms with the aim to foster change through storytelling. Impact fi lms strive to make a lasting impression by bringing about concrete change: whether the goal is to change minds, behaviours or structures, fi lms have the power to be highly infl uential. We are joined by four fi lmmakers whose fi lms all have one thing in common: to engage its audience with pressing social issues. We will discuss the ways fi lmmakers can strategise impact and stimulate change through fi lmmaking.

MODERATOR

Jessica is an impact strategist & executive producer with expertise bridging the worlds of fi lm and non-profi ts. She is currently undertaking a Clore Fellowship in cultural leadership. Until very recently, she was the Director of Impact & Partnerships at Doc Society, helping to establish the Climate Story Fund, supporting and enabling a slate of over 25 projects maximise their creative and impact potential.

SILVIE VAN BRABANT

Sylvie Van Brabant is a major Quebec director and producer. She has written and directed some of Quebec’s most notable documentaries, which primarily address critical social issues. She champions social, political, and artistic works that are relevant, eloquent, and poetic. She dares to tackle controversial issues and bring audiences fi lms that explore deep cultural and social values. She has coproduced and directed several feature fi lms with the National Film Board of Canada, including Earth Keepers. Van Brabant is also an accomplished producer with over 40 documentaries under her belt, many of which have created change in Quebec society through their powerful social impact.

JASON LOFTUS

A Peabody Award-winning fi lmmaker and four-time Canadian Screen Award nominee, Jason Loftus’ work spans documentary, VR, games, and animation. His feature directorial debut, the documentary Ask No Questions, premiered at Slamdance in 2020. His follow-up fi lm, Eternal Spring, premiered in March 2022 at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, winning both the Fischer Audience Award and the Greek Parliament’s Human Values Award. It then won both major audience prizes at Hot Docs and a dozen festival prizes through spring 2022. In August, Eternal Spring was named Canada’s entry for the Best International Film at the 2023 Oscars—the fi rst animation, documentary, and Mandarin-language fi lm to receive this honour.

LENA KARBE

Born in St Petersburg, Russia, Lena Karbe is a Germany-based fi lmmaker. Having studied fi lm internationally, she founded her own production company KARBE FILM GmbH in 2018 with the focus on documentaries for national and international audiences, based in Munich. The mission of Karbe Film’s documentaries is to foster new perspectives and amplify voices and opinions outside the status quo. She has produced several feature fi lms before starting to write and direct. BLACK MAMBAS, her feature fi lm debut as a writer/ director, premiered at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen in March 2022, where it won the F:ACT Award.

SUSANNA MEURES

Susanne Regina Meures is a German/Swiss fi lmmaker, well known for making fi lms about rebels and pioneers who dare to stand up against systemic political and social repression. She holds a Master in Photography and History of Art from The Courtauld Institute in London. She also holds a Master in Film from Zurich University of the Arts. With RAVING IRAN (2016) her fi rst feature-length documentary, Susanne Regina Meures launched an international festival and box-offi ce success. The fi lm is a portrait about two Iranian DJs who rebel against the regime and escape. The documentary was screened at over 130 fi lm festivals worldwide, won numerous awards and became a box offi ce success.

STORIES WITH IMPACT