Interview with Hrönn Sveinsdóttir, Managing Director of Bíó Paradís, Iceland

By Jesús Silva   After facing permanent closure due to the high costs of maintenance necessary for the running of its operations, Iceland’s only arthouse cinema Bíó Paradís announced it would reopen again this September following a successful agreement with public officials. We spoke to Hrönn Sveinsdóttir, Managing Director of the cinema and its distribution…

Focus on Iceland: Bíó Paradís and the challenges of releasing independent cinema

by Birgit Heidsiek   The “Seven Year Itch” turns out well for the Bíó Paradís, a cinema and distribution company in Iceland that is showing European arthouse films and U.S. independents. With “Moonlight”, the distributor released for the first time a movie that was also booked by other exhibitors in Reykjavík. “We are releasing the…

European Distribution : Focus on Scandinavia

 by Birgit Heidsiek   Spotlight on Scandinavia: All about audience access for arthouse films   Since decades, the Scandinavian countries have had the highest number of average admissions in Europe. Although the Icelanders don’t go thirteen times per year anymore to the cinema as they used to do it in the early 1980’s, the insular…