SKAK bíófilm

05/11/2022

Net­flix byrjaði í dag að streyma heimilda­myndinni Hálfur Álfur eftir Jón Bjarka Magnús­son og á­horf­endur víða um heim geta nú kynnst ömmu leik­stjórans og afa sem undir lok langrar ævi vill taka upp nafnið Álfur og gangast þannig við sínum innri álfi.

05/11/2022

**Half Elf now streaming on Netflix**

Half Elf, the award winning Icelandic documentary about a lighthouse keeper who prepares his earthly funeral while trying to reconnect the elf within, is now available on Netflix.

On the shores of Iceland, a lighthouse keeper prepares his 100th birthday while his wife retreats into a world of forgotten poetry. When he bursts out singing, she begs him to stop screaming. When he tells her he wants to change his name to “Elf” she warns his family will abandon him.

Starting out as a school project in his MA studies in Visual Anthropology, director Jón Bjarki Magnússon followed his grandparents, Trausti Breiðfjörð Magnússon and Hulda Jónsdóttir, with the camera as they went about their final days, creating a piece of work which critics have described as an “unpretentious”, “masterpiece”, “of cinematic genius” and “an experience of unfettered joy” that comes “with a lightness of being that offers inspiration to us all.”

A nominee for ‘the Best New Nordic Voice’ at Nordisk Panorama 2020 and ‘the Best Documentary’ at The Icelandic Film & Television Academy ‘Edda Award’ 2021, Half Elf received rave reviews following its premiere, entering competitions at various European film festivals and winning several prizes, including ‘the Manfred Krüger Awards’ for excellent camera work at the 16th biannual German International Ethnographic Film Festival 2022 as well as ‘The Grand jury Prize’ at Skjaldborg, the Icelandic Documentary Film Festival 2020.

Half Elf is produced by Jón Bjarki Magnússon and Hlín Ólafsdóttir for Icelandic production company, SKAK bíófilm ehf., in collaboration with Andy Lawrence at AllRitesReversed in the U.K. and Veronika Janatková at Pandistan in Czechia. International sales and distribution is in the hands of Feelsales in Spain.

**Half Elf is now available on Netflix**

08/10/2022

Trausti and Hulda continue to touch people around the world :)

Yay! Half Elf just received an award at the closing ceremony of the 31st International Festival of Ethnological Film, which was held in Belgrade, Serbia, this past week. This is what the jury had to say about the film:

“This film greatly impressed us with its delicate portrait that masterfully captures the whimsical character of a man determined to see his hundredth birthday, and for whom songs and poetry constitute the fabric of his daily life. The viewer immediately sees the close connection between the filmmaker – who also acted as cinematographer and editor – and his grandparents. The film is also special in allowing us a window into the touching relationship between the two grandparents. The grandfather’s relationship to the mythical elf takes on a transcendental meaning, as he uses the figure as a means to believe in something superior or parallel to his daily life. His spirit and love of life are infectious in viewing this film.”

Thanks! We are honoured and grateful ❤️

30/05/2022

Wow! Jón Bjarki Magnússon won the Manfred Krüger Awards at the 16th biannual German International Ethnographic Film Festival for excellent camera work in Half Elf / Hálfur Álfur. The Awards are named after the estimated ethnographic cameraman, Manfred Krüger, who worked on over 80 films during his legendary career, in many different parts of the world. The jury had this to say about the camerawork in the film:

“In this intimate portrait of a non-agenarian lighthouse keeper in the harsh coastal conditions of Iceland, around the time of his 100th birthday, the camera is never in the wrong place. It is an excellent example of what good and thoroughly thought-out camera work means in the making of a wonderful film. The camera always seems to be in the right place, at the right angle, the right length of a shot, with the right framing at the right time, capturing those magical moments, such as when the main protagonist gets carried away in song, standing behind his walking frame, with family members, as well as the audience, fearing that he may stumble. It is a film oozing of storytelling, both filmic and traditional local, with the kind of camera work that fits it perfectly.”

We could not be more happy with such a beautiful recognition! Thank you and thanks for a great and memorable festival ❤️

25/05/2022

Half Elf will be screened at the German International Ethnographic Film Festival this coming weekend.

A lighthouse keeper prepares his earthly funeral while trying to reconnect the elf within. Hulda and Trausti have shared a roof on Icelandic shores for over seventy years. Her love of books is matched by his love of stones. When he bursts out singing, she begs him to stop screaming; when he tells her he wants to change his name to "Elf" she warns his family will abandon him. Now, as his one-hundredth birthday nears and Trausti senses the hand of death upon him he is on a quest to find the coffin that can carry this elf back to the mysteries beyond.... Meanwhile, Hulda retreats into a world of poetry with the help of an electric magnifying glass. Half Elf is a modern Icelandic fairy-tale, where life is celebrated - despite everything, despite ourselves and despite the reality that awaits all of us in the end.

Jón Bjarki Magnússon is a filmmaker with a background in journalism, poetry and anthropology. He studied creative writing at the University of Iceland and received his MA in Visual and Media Anthropology from Freie Universität, Berlin, in 2018. His works include award-winning journalism on the conditions of refugees and asylum-seekers in Iceland, a book of poetry, and a short film on friendship in cyberspace, “Even Asteroids Are Not Alone” (2018). Jón Bjarki´s journalistic work has appeared on various international media platforms and he is a regular contributor to the Icelandic bi-weekly newspaper Stundin. He also does project work for Filmmaking For Fieldwork (F4F™), an educational project offering training in audio-visual research methods, as well as ethnographic and documentary filmmaking. He is the founder of SKAK BÍÓFILM, a small Icelandic production company dedicated to making anthropological and artistic films. Jón Bjarki splits his time between Athens, Berlin and Reykjavík.

To learn more about "Half Elf" and other films screening on 29.5, visit: https://www.gieff.de/29-05-2022.html

Follow Half Elf / Hálfur Álfur for updates on the film!

04/03/2022

Í nýjasta hlaðvarpi Engra stjarna ræðir Björn Þór Vilhjálmsson við Jón Bjarka Magnússon, kvikmyndagerðarmann, um stuttheimildamyndina Even Asteroids Are Not Alone. Þar fjallar Jón Bjarki um hið djúpstæða félagslíf og sambönd sem myndast geta milli spilara í íslenska fjölspilunartölvuleiknum EVE Online.

Vefrit Hugvísindasviðs Háskóla Íslands