Shortfish

The goal of the competition is to draw attention to aspiring and versatile filmmakers and encourage future achievements with prizes that lay the foundation for the next project. The Rewards are supported by KUKL Rental and the Icelandic broadcaster RÚV. Winners will be included in RÚV VOD this year. The contenders will compete in four categories divided into Fiction, Documentary, Experimental & Artistic Music Video Projects.

Many thanks to our sponsors!

Narrative

  • KUKL 1.000.000 ISK – in house rental
  • RÚV 1.000.000 ISK – cash

Documentary

  • KUKL 500.000 ISK – in house rental
  • RÚV 500.000 ISK – cash

Experimental

  • KUKL 250.000 ISK – in house rentral
  • RÚV 250.000 ISK – cash

Creative Music Video

  • KUKL 250.000 ISK – in house rental
  • RÚV 250.000 ISK – cash

rules for submission

  • The films can be maximum 30 minutes length and should not have been produced before 2023. The Icelandic premiere is required to be at Stockfish Festival 2024.
  • Films will only be considered if the author, director and/or main producer is Icelandic.
  • Icelandic music videos are only considered If the director is Icelandic and the music needs to be made to an original song.
  • Submissions are free of charge and executed through FilmFreeway.
  • 20 short films will be shown during the festival, 5 projects will be selected to compete in each category.

JURY

We would like to thank the jury for their important input and contribution. All the jurors are experienced professionals in the fi lm industry from Iceland and abroad.

Narrative: Silja Hauksdóttir, Þorvaldur Davíð Kristjánsson & María Reyndal

Documentary: Jörundur Ragnarsson, Daiga Livcane & Helga Rakel Rafnsdóttir

Experimental: Helena Jónsdóttir, Thomas Brennan & Gústav Geir Bollason

Creative Music Video: Ninna Pálmadóttir, Vytautas Dambrauskas & Katrín Björgvinsdóttir

NARRATIVE

FÁR

Director: Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter

Producer: Rúnar Ingi Einarsson, Sara Nassim

Synopsis: Business colleagues are at a café when a seagull hits the window right in front of them. One of them is unable to shake off the incident.

Length: 5,13 min

ROUTE 7

Director: Óskar Þorri Hörpuson

Producer: Óskar Þorri Hörpuson, Jón Axel Matthíasson, Birkir Kristinsson

Synopsis: An african-icelandic man meets discrimination on board a bus, but his day takes a turn for the better when a young girl shows interest in his case.

Length: 11,07 min

High tide

Director: Arina Vala Thordardottir

Producer: Jóna Gréta Hilmarsdóttir, Jessica Li, Meagan Solano

Synopsis: When a mysterious woman wants to take a cab to a frozen beach in the middle of the night, her driver suspects she’s suicidal.

Length: 9,16 min

alone

Director: Þura Stína Kristleifsdóttir

Producer: SURA productions, Þura Stína Kristleifsdóttir

Synopsis: EIN (Alone) is an Icelandic short about a woman who looks back on her life and the thought if she is really happy.

Length: 15,14 min

showers

Director: Logi Sigursveinsson

Producer: Gunnbjörn Gunnarsson, Bianca Radoslav, Markús Loki Gunnarsson, Konráð Kárason Þormar

Synopsis: A man is picked up from prison by his father. On the drive home he discovers his father has more faces than he could have imagined.

Length: 17,48 min

documentary

HAFEY

Director: Hanna Hulda Hafthorsdottir

Producer: Hanna Hulda Hafthorsdottir

Synopsis: Hafey had a stroke at age thirteen. After waking up from a coma she experiences herself differently, and starts dancing to regain her health.

Length: 15,04 min

empathfridges

Director: Rakel Jónsdóttir

Producer: Rakel Jónsdóttir

Synopsis: Fridges are public fridges where people can share food. But there seems to more behind these actions than the mere desire to reduce food waste.

Length: 8,18 min

new life

Director: Andri Freyr Gilbertsson

Producer: Andri Freyr Gilbertsson

Synopsis: Guðrún Tinna was born with a rare disease and later in life diagnosed with leukemia. She needs a bone marrow transplant but finding a donor can be difficult.

Length: 18,09 min

mountain saga

Director: Edda Sól Jakobsdóttir

Producer: Edda Sól Jakobsdóttir

Synopsis: A cinematic exploration of Iceland’s unique treasure, Kerlingafjöll, capturing its history, beauty, and transformation through a heartfelt intergenerational bond between Eddi and his granddaughter Edda.

Lengd: 15,05 min

misplaced

Director: Michelle Pröstler

Producer: Haggai Birnir Moshesson

Synopsis: We all go through different stages in life. But how often do we feel “at the right place”? And how often utterly misplaced?

Length: 18,03 min

experimental

if i die, will i go home?

Director: Peter Thor

Producer: Þorgeir P. Á. Sigurðsson

Synopsis: A surreal exploration into childhood trauma and its effects on the perception of one self and others.  How can we sleep when our home burns?

Length: 8,50 min

soulmates

Director: Alda Ægisdóttir

Producer: Alda Ægisdóttir

Synopsis: In a world of embroidered flowers and insects, two lovers are torn apart by supernatural forces.

Length: 9,51 min

that´s just how it is

Director: Björk Magnúsdóttir, Askur Benedikt Árnason Nielsen

Producer: Björk Magnúsdóttir

Synopsis: “That’s just how it is” visually interprets a poem written by the co-director, Björk Magnúsdóttir, that expresses feelings of derealization and dissociation.

Length: 2,30 min

vagus symphony

Director: The Icelandic Love Corporation, Eirún Sigurðardóttir Jóní Jónsdóttir

Producers: Hanna Björk Valsdóttir, Eirún Sigurðardóttir & Jóní Jónsdóttir

Synopsis: Vagus Symphony is an experimental poetic short film, an abstract journey without words from the primordial bang to epiphany through the seven continents of the body.

Length: 25,49 min

fragments of the attempt

Director: Steiní Kristinsson

Producer: Steiní Kristinsson

Synopsis: A scene from an unfinished film from a fictional country where a hunter and her daughter find themselves drawn to a strange sound in the forest.

Length: 5,45 min

creative music

“yfir skýin” – lúpína

Director: Hanna Hulda Hafþórsdóttir

Framleiðandi: Nína Sólveig Andersen

Synopsis: This music video for singer and songwriter Lúpína explores how feelings from past trauma can manifest themselves if you don’t let go of them.

Length: 3,37 min

“solar” – talos

Director: Máni M. Sigfusson

Producer: Máni M. Sigfusson

Synopsis: The idea for the video came mostly from the lyrics to the song. Mainly the opening lines,  ” When I was assembled.  On your wooden sea”

Length: 5,45 min

“problems” – flesh machine

Director: Snæfríður Sól Gunnarsdóttir

Producer: Snæfríður Sól Gunnarsdóttir

Synopsis: Mr. Flesh has the superpower of shooting groovy vibes from his fingers. But has to wear specialized gloves to protect those around him.

Length: 5,45 min

“spiritus naturae aeternus” – dustin o’halloran

Director: Markus Englmair

Producer: Erlendur Sveinsson, Kári Úlfsson

Synopsis: The cycle of life interpreted through Fukiko Takase’s choreography on a journey from Icelandic landscapes to barren cityscapes, from nature to a world of steel and concrete.

Length: 25,49 min

“holdgervingur lauslætis + imagine a woman”

Director: Kristína Rannveig Jóhannsdóttir, Freyja Vignisdóttir

Producer: Kristína Rannveig Jóhannsdóttir, Freyja Vignisdóttir

Synopsis: A feminist story highlighting the hypocrisy of patriarchal society. A woman is portrayed as desirable based on her body, but not her wits or personality.

Length: 5,45 min