Children, books and cinema

The 2017 Children's Book and Film Festival kicked off today in Hafnarfjörður with a glamorous opening ceremony. Over 200 ten-year-olds from Hafnarfjörður's primary schools turned up to the venue to enjoy singing and readings, and to experience a film screening at the town's cultural centre, the Bæjarbíó. A break from the school routine for both levels of schooling and a varied programme will be on offer at Hafnarfjörður's museums all week.

The Children's Book and Film Festival is a cultural festival for children in Hafnarfjörður, with a focus on books and films. The festival's aim is to foster children's interest in reading and literacy in the broadest sense, and it supports the literacy projects of the city's nursery and primary schools that have been running over the past few terms. The cultural festival is held in close collaboration between the city's museums and schools, Bæjarbíó and other partners. This is the second time the festival has been held here in Hafnarfjörður. The festival began with a great show at Bæjarbíó this morning, where over 200 children gathered to listen to the choir of Öldutúnsskóli, a reading by the winners of the 2017 Great Reading Competition, and a few songs by Friðrik Dór, who was appointed Reading Ambassador for Hafnarfjörður in 2016 alongside footballer Fanndís Friðriksdóttir. They hold the title this year and are the faces of reading and literacy for the children of Hafnarfjörður, serving as role models and encouragement for them to progress and achieve greater success in reading. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, Chair of the Hafnarfjörður Education Committee, opened the festival and welcomed the children and guests. The opening ceremony
ended with a film screening for the children at the Town Cinema.

A varied programme will be on offer all week at the museums of the City of Hafnarfjörður, and the usual school routine in primary and nursery schools will be broken up with books and film screenings. Throughout the week, parents will receive a discount on library card registration, and can also take part in a book bingo, a borrowing game, and the writing of a collaborative poem at Hafnarfjörður Library. Author Eva Rún Þorgeirsdóttir is helping the writers of the future to use their imagination and write stories at the library. The workshop is designed for children aged 9-12. Throughout the week, school groups are invited to visit both Hafnarborg and the Byggðasafn for guided tours of the exhibitions currently on display.  In Hafnarborg, these are the exhibitions 'Rósa' and 'The Female Hero', and in the Pakkhús of the Folk Museum, the exhibition 'Cinema Town – The Golden Age of Cinemas in Hafnarfjörður'. These exhibitions will also be open to the general public this coming weekend.  Sóla, the storyteller, will welcome nursery school children with a reading session on three mornings during the week. Second-grade pupils from Hafnarfjörður's primary schools are invited to the Bæjarbíó for a puppet show of 'Peter and the Wolf', and the whole family is invited to the 'Furðuverur spjalla saman' art workshop at Hafnarborg at the weekend, where you can create something beautiful together in the form of poems and/or text that can be compiled into a book.