At Visegrad Film Forum 2024, Iceland’s Rúnar Rúnarsson captivates audiences with his evocative films, notably Echo, while sharing insightful reflections on filmmaking and storytelling.

Icelander Rúnar Rúnarsson is the youngest guest at Visegrad Film Forum 2024, yet his films spoke volumes and prompted many questions post the screening of his film Echo (2019).

Recognized for his captivating narratives portraying the journey to adulthood amidst Iceland’s breathtaking landscapes, Rúnar Rúnarsson achieved global acclaim with his Oscar-nominated short film Two Birds in 2008. Following this success, he continued to enchant audiences with equally lyrical works such as Volcano (2011), featured in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2011, the award-winning Sparrows at San Sebastian in 2015, and the triumphant Echo, which secured victories at the Valladolid and Lübeck festivals in 2019. Not just limited to directing, Rúnarsson also flexes his screenwriting skills, as seen in the success of Solitude (2023), a collaborative effort premiered at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival.

“It’s always nice to come here, and always self-reflect, to put myself into perspective and it is healthy doing a masterclass, besides they have a nice venue, a nice mixture of young people, students who are excited and veteran filmmakers as well. Exchange of knowledge and energy between the generation is fantastic,” said Rúnar, post the masterclass.

“I am fascinated in telling stories and some things have shorter forms than others, also it depends on the country you live in, what are the possibilities that you have with you. A short film is like poetry, or a short story, even though an author writes a novel, it doesn’t stop him from writing poetry,” he added when asked about telling stories as short films for which Rúnar is famous for. His short film The Last Farm was nominated for the Oscars, Rúnar is probably the most awarded short film director in the world with 90 International awards under his belt for his last 3 films.

“I have learned a sense of how I tell stories, each story has its own time, that’s what I do when I make films. Everything I write and make is first- or second-hand experiences mixed with fiction, that’s my way of dealing with a self-reflective thing,” he said.

Why is a documentary truer than fiction? “If asked, then I feel that fiction can also be truth, although I have made documentaries, I feel that there is always an author in the way the stories are told. It is dangerous how people take it as truth, but it is not, but with filmmaking, I want people to get a sense of reality,” said the director who just finished a short film and a feature film, When the Light Breaks.

According to Rúnar, he finds people unique. “We are all unique, we have all experienced, life is a timeline and film is a timeline which has a beginning and ending. I think we are all interesting, the beauty of mundane, the simple beauty in life, beauty of the moment, that it is so much beauty around us and we don’t see it, don’t sense, we are always preoccupied. Becoming a filmmaker is by accident, I had a creative urge, I was trying all kinds of different stuff, music, being in a band, painting, writing poetry as a teenager but when I made my first short film, all narrative forms came together, that fascinated me.”

Rúnar talks of taking a break and feels that this current film could be his last film. He reasons, “When I have nothing to say at the moment, I have to stop for it is a long journey to make a film, I do it. If I am doing working on a film, I would be a fisherman for making an earning. I am not a rich man, and I am not looking at making films for commercial purposes. I do my films for myself, luckily, I know great people, who also want to be collaborators. You start the journey alone but when the film culminates, it’s a journey done together.”

As parting words, Rúnar has some advice for young filmmakers. “Youth should be honest with what they want to do, have fun but make mistakes and be daring to tell stories.”

Film Fest Report is a proud media partner of the Visegrad Film Forum 2024.