Real Stars at the Reykjavik Int. Film Festival

On September 28th, the opening night of the Reykjavik International film festival, all street lights in Reykjavik will be turned off from 22.00 to 23.00. The idea came from writer Andri Snær Magnason who says it is an old dream of his to have the lights in Reykjavik turned off so that he can see the stars. „The organizers at the film festival grabbed the idea and made it happen. According to tradition stars show up at film festivals. At this festival the brightest stars in the world will show up. Real stars,“ says Andri Snær. He brought this idea to the City of Reykjavik for the first time in the year 2000 and apparently he is not the only one who has carried the idea. „Now the lights will be turned off and an astronomer will describe the sky on the air.“ Andri Snær is not worried for those afraid of the dark, he says we live in a country where earthquakes can be expected so this is a good opportunity to see the world the way it will is the power goes out in an emergency. Andri believes it is good for everyone to stop for a moment and stare at the sky. In Reykjavik we always have streetlights but out in the country people can see the stars in complete darkness, it will be interesting to be able to see the star shine in Reykjavik.