The embattled arthouse cinema which this week welcomes one of Iceland’s top film industry events, might be forced to close down May 1st.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Reykjavik’s Bío Paradís, the only arthouse cinema in Iceland and a popular cultural institution, is host this week to the Stockfish Film Festival (March 12-22) and Industry Days, screening more than 30 films, including the world premiere of Gunnlaugur Þór Pálsson’s documentary Just Like a Painting by Eggert Pétursson, Dome Karukoski’s Tolkien and Are You Living Here by Norway’s Mona J. Hoel.

Stockfish is just one of many annual film and cultural events held at the 3 screen-400 seats cinema complex in the heart of Reykjavik, together with the Reykjavik International Film Festival, French, Polish, German, Japanese mini-festivals, or Children Film Festival.

Throughout the year the non-profit cinema run by managing director Hrönn Sveinsdóttir on behalf of various professional organisations and filmmaking guilds, plays a crucial role in promoting film –past and present - as an art form, educating the younger generation, but also as a meeting place for local communities and filmmakers. Since the cinema first opened in 2010, on the premise of an existing commercial theatre, admissions have climbed from 37,000 the first full year of activity, to 56,000 in 2019.

As a distributor since 2013, Bio Paradis also acquires between 20-25 films a year – mostly non-US quality arthouse films. These include the Oscar-winning film Parasite, a handful of smaller Icelandic films and documentaries and Nordic films, many supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

“The Fund has been an incredible partner for us,” acknowledges Sveinsdóttir. “We want to focus more on Nordic films as our audiences have an in-built cultural closeness to the Nordics, and children’s films from the Nordics are extremely popular and a crucial alternative to the usual Pixar, Disney offers,” she said.

Recent Nordic films acquired by Bío Paradís with support from the Fund's distribution scheme include Roy Andersson’s About Endlessness, Anders Morgenthaler & Mikael Wulff’s The Street Party, and Jorunn Myklebust’s Disco.

However Bío Paradís’ very existence is threatened by real estate speculation and could cease operating as of May 1st. Karl Mikli ehf, the current owners of the building housing the cinema – as well as the Icelandic Film Centre on the second floor - would like to triple the rent to align it to market standards, which would signal certain death to the film venue.

“We are a non-profit organisation. We don’t make money from our films", noted Sveinsdóttir, explaining that support from the government and the City of Reykjavik only covers 17% of the cinema’s running costs.

Since Sveinsdóttir announced late January that she might close down the cinema, public outcry has gained momentum. Hallgrímur Kristinsson, head of the local film & TV rights owners association FRISK says that should Bío Paradís close, this would have a “drastic effect on the arthouse film market in Iceland”, with 70-90% of the arthouse films not finding distribution anymore.

Producer Grimar Jonsson of Netop Films (RAMS, The County) feels that the potential closure of Bío Paradís would be “terrible for cinema in Iceland”. “ I only imagine if our National Theatre would close down, what impact that would have on the theatre scene. For us film lovers, Bío Paradís is our national cinema scene, the only place screening non-commercial films and a cultural institution hosting film events, festivals, special screenings, school screenings etc etc.” he stated.

Bio Paradis has also received support from institutions such as CICAE (International Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas) and the European Film Academy.

Laufey Guðjónsdóttir, head of the Icelandic Film Centre remains hopeful about the future of Bío Paradís. “There is a political will to save the cinema. It just takes a bit of time,” she told nordicfilmandtvnews.com.

While waiting for a positive outcome, Bío Paradís is already facing a new battle with the spread of coronavirus and a potential limit to public gatherings, if not closure of cinemas in Iceland. “So far coronavirus has had some effect on our venue,” admits Sveinsdóttir. “We've had a few cancellations of room rentals, of schools screenings and fewer visitors. But there could be more disruptions coming….We'll see how it goes!”