Ólafur H. Torfason
THE ICN INTERVIEW:
Ólafur H. Torfason, the new chairman of The Film Board.
Veteran film critic Ólafur H. Torfason was recently appointed the chairman of The Film Board, whose role is to give advice and make proposals to the Minister of Culture about public policy and objectives in matters of film and television art.
The Minister appoints members of the Film Board for three year terms; the chairman and vice-chairman are appointed without nomination, while the other five members are nominated by the following organisations: The Association of Film Producers, The Association of Icelandic Film Directors, The Icelandic Filmmakers’ Association, The Association of Cinema Owners and The Icelandic Artists Alliance. In addition to Torfason, the new Film Board consists of fellow film critic Sigrídur Pétursdóttir (vice-chairman), filmmakers Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, Ari Kristinsson, Hilmar Oddsson and Ágúst Gudmundsson, and distributor/exhibitor Samfilm‘s Thorvaldur Árnason.
ICN met with Torfason recently to discuss his views on The Film Board, his new role and the challenges ahead for the film sector.
ICN: The Film Board has not been very visible since its creation almost six years ago and this has sometimes been criticized. How do you see its role?
ÓLAFUR H. TORFASON: It‘s defined rather vaguely in the law, but since most of its members are filmmakers or distributors, it‘s a good knowledge base. This can be helpful in a number of ways. The Minister can submit to the board assignments and requests of many kind. The board can also initiate ideas, recommendations and requests. It‘s been finding its feet since inception and it surely can be more involved in the general debate.
ICN: What do you hope to achieve during your three-year term?
ÓLAFUR H. TORFASON: I have many „dream objectives“. One is to find a way to enable a lot more women to become writers, producers and directors. They‘ve shown great talent themselves, here as elsewhere. But the situation here is rather shocking; you‘ll rarely find the gender balance as skewered towards men. My research shows that since regular film production started here in 1980, male directors have made 86% of the Icelandic films shown publicly in cinemas, whereas females helmed 14%. In detail, 45 males have made 115 features and documentaries for the cinema but at the same time only 12 women have done 19 such films. Not only do women make much fewer films on the whole, but each woman makes a lot fewer films than each man. I suspect this development starts during the school years, with the boys monopolizing the equipment and not even allowing the girls to act in the films! One can also sense from the short film festivals that the boys rule at the grassroot level too.
I‘m not sure how to rectify this situation, but I‘m sure its possible. The Spanish goverment is for example trying to achieve gender equality in an interesting way on many levels. Recently they changed their film funding arrangement so that a film gets more public money if it has women in key positions. We could possibly do something like that to deflate this undemocratic and hurtful gender inequality, which is raising eyebrows among other nations, and perhaps even preventing us from being taken seriously as collaborators.
I‘m also very interested in seeing the sector as a whole growing in size, whether it’s features, documentaries, shorts, experimental films or collaborative multi-media projects for the screen, stage, stadiums or other spaces. I‘m convinced there‘s a market for it, here and especially abroad. I think the sector should really embrace the „digital culture“, i.e. computer games, television work and various other stuff which has yet to surface. Filmmaking skills and planning can be put to good use in many other areas than traditional film work.
ICN: What are the most important issues on the Film Board‘s plate right now?
ÓLAFUR H. TORFASON: The Film Board deals with film policy in a wide context, but these days we are naturally concerned about the proposed cuts in film funding. In some countries the authorities , e.g. in Norway, have decided to fight the economic crisis by increasing allocation to films. Within the European Union each nation has some space to manouvre.
ICN: What are the most important issues facing the Icelandic film sector?
ÓLAFUR H. TORFASON: To stay alert and engage with the future. Don‘t miss the train. We should draw lessons from the experience of other nations, for example new ventures like „Digital Britain“. That project is about avoiding stasis. That should be our objective too. We should embrace new developments, provide access to the continuing education of filmmakers and be constantly prepared for things to come. We also need to continue to attract projects from abroad, as well as film students and trainees. The Icelandic Film School has already started to look in this direction. In our times its very dangerous, both businesswise and artistically, to rest easy and delude oneself that one can have total overview without any effort.
ICN: Has the Film Board any specific plans of action in the coming months?
ÓLAFUR H. TORFASON: We are currently – and still in an informal way – devising a strategy to increase community debate and action in regard to film and TV policy. This is not about central planning and orders from above, but to find a way to emphasize the multiple value of art and culture as elements of anchoring and reference. The film debate here has been dominated by the financial issues. That‘s of course very important but we can‘t forget about the basis of it all. We must put the passion at the forefront.
