WHAT THE F IS GOING ON

RIFF 2022

more info and tickets at riff.is and on the app Venue: Ráðhús Reykjavikur Date: Friday 7th of October Time: 13:30-15:00 Moderator Bogi Ágústsson This panel focuses on the uncanny backlashes experienced recently in our community: the climate change neglect, the aggression towards the queer, the withdrawal of women’s reproductive rights, the continuing stigma around mental health issues and the shrinking space for civil society. Our speakers explore the connections between these phenomenons and ponder on what the future may hold.

BOGI ÁGÚSTSSON

Journalist and broadcaster Bogi Ágústsson is one of Iceland’s most well known faces. He matriculated from Reykjavik Junior College (the oldest junior college in Iceland) to the University of Iceland where he studied History and Icelandic between 1972-1977. He has been a reporter for Iceland’s national broadcaster RÚV since January 1977. In 2014 he was awarded the Edda Award for Best Television Personality by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy.

LUCIE SAMCOVÁ-HALL ALLEN

Ambassador Lucie Samcová - Hall Allen represents the EU in Iceland since 2020. As a diplomat, she has over seventeen years of experience in foreign policy having previously served at the EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva where she covered a broad multilateral agenda including migration, human rights, humanitarian and economic matters. Since her appointment, her aim is to strengthen the relationship between the EU and Iceland and to foster co-operation in areas of mutual interest.

DR. EIRIKUR BERGMAN

Dr. Eirikur Bergmann is Professor of Politics at Bifröst University in Iceland. Author of twelve academic books and numerous journal articles he writes mainly on nationalism, populism, conspiracy theories, European integration, Icelandic politics and on participatory democracy. Bergmann is also author of three novels published in Icelandic.

HÉÐINN UNNSTEINSSON

Héðinn Unnsteinsson is currently working as senior policy analyst in the Prime Minister’s office in Iceland focusing on, among other things, macro policy analysis and coordination of governmental policies and plans. Héðinn worked as a technical officer for the mental health programme of the World Health Organization at the European office in Copenhagen from 2003-2007, before entering the Icelandic ministry of health in 2007. Over the last 25 years Héðinn has given over 900 talks on mental and public health worldwide.

INGILEIF FRIÐRIKSDÓTTIR TOMASSON

SIGRÍÐUR DÖGG AUÐUNSDÓTTIR

Ingileif is the CEO of the production company and creative agency Ketchup Productions. She is also the founder of the LGBT+ educational platform Hinseginleikinn. Ingileif and her wife have been going around the country for the past 6 years to do lectures in schools about the beauty of diversity. They also published a children’s book, Vertu þú (Be you), did a TV show and a podcast.

Sigríður Dögg Auðunsdóttir is the president of The Union of Icelandic Journalists and an award-winning journalist. She works as a presenter of Kastljós, the flagship current affairs news programme on the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RUV. She has a background in print journalism, specialising in in-depth current affairs stories and politics. Formerly she served as editor-in-chief of a weekly newspaper and as the deputy news editor at the largest newspaper in Iceland.

ÓLAFUR RAGNAR GRÍMSSON

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson served as President of Iceland for twenty years, 1996-2016; elected five times in nationwide elections. Previously, he was Minister of Finance, Member of Parliament, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the first Professor of Political Science at the University of Iceland. He now serves as Chairman of the Arctic Circle, which he founded in 2013 with various Arctic partners.

SÓLEY TÓMASDÓTTIR

ÞORGERÐUR MARÍA ÞORBJARNARDÓTTIR

Sóley Tómasdóttir is a gender and diversity expert from Iceland, living in the Netherlands, who has been a leading change agent in Icelandic society for decades. She joined the political party the Women’s Alliance at the age of 11, was one of the founding members of the Feminist Association of Iceland in 2003 and has been involved in various formal and informal alliances focusing on gender equality and human rights. She served as a city councillor in Reykjavík for ten years, mainly focusing on gender and diversity.

Thorgerdur María Þorbjarnardóttir was chair of The Icelandic Youth Environmentalist Association and is now on the board of Landvernd, the Icelandic Environmental Association. She is raised in Egilsstaðir and from a young age she has been passionate about nature and natural science. She studied geology at the University of Iceland and has a MPhil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge.

BACKLASH