Reykjavík Feminist Film Festival 2021: A streamed buffet of women’s art
The Reykjavík Feminist Film Festival, a platform for celebrating cinematic art by and about women, was held in the middle of January. At the last minute, it was announced that the festival would only take place online. Attendees simply logged on to rvkfemfilmfest.is/, which became the festival’s streaming service. Of course, we were saddened that we couldn’t spend several days in a darkened movie theatre, but we have to praise how things turned out. Here are some of our personal highlights.
Mrs Elisabet (2020) Iceland
Documentary - 20 minutes
Directors: Anna Sæunn Ólafsdóttir, Elvar Örn Egilsson, Fanney Kristjáns Snjólaugardóttir
Karitas:
This dramatised documentary was cosy and very educational. There’s no doubt that a lot of smart Icelandic women have been left out of the history books, simply because they existed in a time when women’s worth was not appreciated. Fortunately, Mrs Elísabet Jónsdóttir has not been lost to history; the trio that directed this short documentary about her life and work successfully brought attention to this amazing musician in a way that greatly appealed to yours truly.
I (2020) Iceland
Short film - 15 minutes
Directors: Vala Ómarsdóttir, Hallfríður Þóra Tryggvadóttir
Karitas:
A sweet short film about the internal and external battles of a transgender woman. I found the film did a great job depicting the ridiculousness of the common misunderstanding that someone other than the person themself must accept their gender and gender identity for it to be considered valid. The movie wasn’t wordy, but it gave me a good punch in the stomach at the same time that it wrapped me up in a cotton blanket and sang me sweet lullabies with its nice ending.
Women in Red Stockings (2009) Iceland
Documentary - 60 minutes
Director: Halla Kristín Einarsdóttir
Karitas:
This year, the festival honoured director Halla Kristín Einarsdóttir, so of course, I had to watch at least two of her documentaries. Women in Red Stockings is a wonderfully educational movie about the Icelandic women who paved the way for future generations. It is very important to remember who’s to thank for one’s rights, and it was touching to watch the women talk about how they secured those rights. The Red Stocking Movement was even more magical than I originally thought.
Kitchen Sink Revolution (2015) Iceland
Documentary - 90 minutes
Director: Halla Kristín Einarsdóttir
Karitas:
You could easily say that Kitchen Sink Revolution is a sequel to Women in Red Stockings, and the effect was certainly the same. The fight for women’s rights in Iceland is still ongoing and every activist should know where their activism came from. Kitchen Sink Revolution is all about the turnabouts in the fight for women’s rights that took place in the ’80s and ’90s, the establishment of the Women’s Party, and everything that resulted from the Red Stocking Movement.
Fascinatrix (2018) Poland
Musical - 18 minutes
Director: Justyna Mytnik
Francesca:
Witches, the Inquisition, and gender-role reversal come together perfectly in this short movie that is also… a musical! It doesn’t matter how strange that sounds, because it works. The story is about a fugitive, supposedly a witch, who returns to her village disguised as a male witch hunter. The visuals are quite graphic, even slightly gory. After all, the Inquisition was not known for being that delicate at the time. Lastly, I found the songs beautiful and mellow, in contrast at times with the heavy topic and dark atmosphere.
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Lift Like a Girl (2020) Egypt/Denmark/Germany
Documentary - 93 minutes
Director: Mayye Zayed
Francesca:
This documentary takes place in Egypt and revolves around a teenage female weightlifter. The place where she trains is nothing more than an arid piece of land in one of Alexandria’s poorest neighbourhoods. There, her coach, Captain Ramadan, is trying to build a proper gym to train his numerous past and future female world champions. She’s like an Egyptian Mulan, constantly reminded to be a man in order to succeed, win, and become a champion. The film offers insight into a teenage athlete’s mind, but also a critique of class struggles and gender roles in sports.
Her (2020) Iceland
Visual Diary - 11 minutes
Director: Julia Hrefna Rokk
Francesca:
A short film that consists of a series of interviews with three women and asks just one question: what does feminism mean to you? There are of course some general similarities among their answers, but each individual has her own specific viewpoint. The three subjects’ narration is paired with artistic visuals that are reminiscent of a contemporary art/dance performance. The topics covered in their replies include, among others, the importance of feminist men, motherhood, activism, and sexual content censorship on social media. The symbolism of the images is striking. Throughout the movie, we find the aesthetics of nudity and bondage, which can be interpreted as a commentary on the objectification of women in society.
Event at Alliance Française: 13 short movies by Alice Guy + Q&A
RVK FFF also offered the public a rare pleasure amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a physical event. It might sound silly, but partaking in this event was almost a cathartic moment. Of course, all the recommended preventative measures were taken and participants were able to enjoy a few hours of nostalgic normality. The event was organized in partnership with Alliance Française, the French Embassy, and the French Institute and took place at the cosy premises of Alliance Française. We enjoyed the screening of 13 of Alice Guy’s short movies and a Q&A with Véronique Le Bris, an expert on Guy’s work. For those who are not familiar with her, Alice Guy was a French director and producer known as the first fictional filmmaker in the history of cinema. She was a woman and made hundreds of movies over her lifetime, yet she was completely erased from cinematic history until recently. The 13 short movies we watched were predominantly humorous, like La course à la saucisse (1907) but also showed a veiled criticism on sensitive topics such as feminism, like in Les résultats du féminisme (undated).
Conclusion
The RVK Feminist Film Festival has been a highly educational, exciting, and entertaining experience for us. The main topic of feminism has been dealt with in so many different ways depending on the director and shooting style of the various movies. From animation to documentaries, from short movies to feature films, there has been a lot to reflect on and to learn from. Moreover, the accessibility of the screenings (free and online) allowed students to enjoy the movies at their own pace, in the comfort of their student apartments, perhaps even underneath their duvets. We gladly await next year's RVK FFF edition and look forward to discovering new perspectives on feminism in cinema.