Runar Runarsson’s Volcano wins two prizes.

The Reykjavik International Film Festival in Iceland has closed with Russian feature Twilight Portrait winning the Golden Puffin award for a first or second feature.

Angelina Nikonova’s drama is a story of revenge between a social worker and a militia man in modern Russia.

The jury, comprised of Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen, Romanian festival programmer Tudo Giurgiu and Italian journalist Irene Bignardi, praised the film’s “extremely inspired use of cinematic language and storytelling while depicting an intriguing and provocative subject matter with unsettling, realist sensibility.”

Special jury mentions went to Andrea Segre’s Shun Li And The Poet and Joachim Trier’s Oslo, 31. August.

The Fipresci award went to Runar Runarsson’s Volcano, which is the first Icelandic feature to have been in competition at RIFF. The film premeired at Cannes Directors Fortnight and is also is the country’s submission for the Foreign Language Oscar race. The international critics on that jury said the film was a “sensitive yet unsentimental portrayal, built on powerful acting, of themes that are not usually the focus of filmmaking: aging with dignity in an intimate relationship, dealing with severe illness, caring and dying.”

Volcano also won the Church of Iceland award, with a special mention to Julia Marat’s Stories That Only Exist When Remembered.

The Audience Award went to Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre.

Further, the environmental award went to Risteard O Domhnaill’s The Pipe, with a special mention to Eco Pirate: The Paul Watson Story.

Best Icelandic Short Film, which comes with a new grant from the Thor Vilhjalmsson Fund, was Come To Harm (Skadi) by Borkur Sigthorsson, with a special mention to Invisible Border (Osynileg Maeri) by Haukur M. Hrafnsson.

The RIFF TransAtlantic Talent Lab Encouragement Award went to Sandra Nedeleff’s Auf Wiedersehen Papa.

In its eighth year, the festival had record admissions of almost 27,000.

The 2012 festival dates have been set for Sept 27-Oct 7.

 

 

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