19 minute read
Film fra Nord / Films from the North
from TIFF 2018
FILM FRA NORD
FILMS FROM THE NORTH
SHORT AND DOCUMENTARY FILMS FROM THE BARENTS REGION AND OTHER POLAR AREAS
Film fra Nord presenterer de beste nye kort- og dokumentarfilmene fra det nordlige Norge, Sverige, Finland, Russland og Canada. Slik vi i de andre programmene viser perler fra hele verden, viser vi her det beste fra vår egen utvidede nærregion. Tromsøpalmen gis til beste film i konkurranse.
Films from the North presents the best of new shorts and documentaries made in the Barents region and other polar areas. In our other sidebars we present highlights from all parts of the world; this sidebar showcases the best of the High North. The Tromsø Palm Award is presented to the best film in competition.
2018 PROGRAM
Opening Night
Shorts in Competition
Documentaries in Competition
Into The Wild
Strangers In The North
Young Directors / Student Films
Special Screenings
(p. 150)
(p. 152)
(p. 157)
(p. 160)
(p. 161)
(p. 162)
(p. 164)
FFN - Opening Night
FILMS FROM THE NORTH
Four terrific short films to officially open and kick-off this year's Films from the North program!
UP NORTH NORD
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: The Sporadic Film Collective w/ Mattis Herman Nyquist PRODUCER: The Sporadic Film Collective RUNNING TIME: 9m
A movie with great prospects and narrow insights, about rationalities and irrationalities. About how to see Norway, and the world - without the real ability to see anything.
THE DIRECTOR
Mattis Herman Nyquist is a writer, director and actor working with The Sporadic Film Collective. This is a group of filmmakers working in Oslo, all engaged because they want more time and space to explore their field of filmmaking. The group has seventeen members, covering all important disciplines necessary when making a film, including directing.
THE DIRECTOR
Truls Krane Meby is a Berlin-based, award-winning and self-taught filmmaker from Lofoten, Norway. He works as a director, editor and writer. He is an alumnus of the Berlinale Talents and in 2017 got a one year working grant from the Arts Council of Norway. His previous short films GOOD MACHINE GUN SOUND, WORLD WIDE WOVEN BODIES and EVERYONE IS PRESENT were screened at TIFF in 2014 and 2015 respectively. He also won “The Rookie” award ahead of TIFF 2014.
MOBILE MOBIL
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Truls Krane Meby PRODUCER: Ragna Nordhus Midtgard RUNNING TIME: 10m
Walid is a young Syrian refugee who lives by himself at a refugee center in Northern Norway. One day he gets a desperate call from his mother and brother. They are fleeing through Europe, hoping to reunite with Walid. But they are stuck near the Hungarian border with smugglers who are demanding more money. Surrounded by a beautiful landscape and with only a cellphone, he tries to help them. His presence and the great distance between them, gives a perspective on the current situation in Europe.
ELEKTRO
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Thor Brenne PRODUCER: Thor Brenne RUNNING TIME: 16m
A portrait of the director's dawning transition from young to adult that centers around positive contributions from individuals in a period of life filled with confusion and unclear prospects.
I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, CONNY I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, KINGEN
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Amanda Kernell PRODUCER: Kaj Snijder RUNNING TIME: 30m
It’s minus 30 degrees and twenty-year-old Conny walks around like a restless criminal with his hoodie up in a small forgotten village in Northern Sweden. He's not welcome anywhere and the whole village seems to hate him. Yesterday he panicked and drove away from his girlfriend’s delivery of their baby - but now he has repented and wants to come back. But what will it take for her to forgive him?
THE DIRECTOR
Thor Brenne is an award-winning director from Rognan, Norway. He mainly focuses on short films and music videos, both in Norway and abroad. His previous short film RESTRIKTORAMA was screened at TIFF 2017.
THE DIRECTOR
Amanda Kernell is an accomplished filmmaker born in Umeå, Sweden to a Swedish mother and Sámi father. She has directed several acclaimed shorts. Her short films EUTOPIA and NORTHERN GREAT MOUNTAIN were screened at TIFF in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Her feature film debut SÁMI BLOOD was released last year.
FFN – Shorts 1
SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION
MOBILE MOBIL
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Truls Krane Meby PRODUCER: Ragna Nordhus Midtgard RUNNING TIME: 10m
Walid is a young Syrian refugee who lives by himself at a refugee center in Northern Norway. One day he gets a desperate call from his mother and brother. They are fleeing through Europe, hoping to reunite with Walid. But they are stuck near the Hungarian border with smugglers who are demanding more money. Surrounded by a beautiful landscape and with only a cellphone, he tries to help them. His presence and the great distance between them, gives a perspective on the current situation in Europe.
TELEPHONE
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Alistair Cheyne PRODUCER: Natalia Valtanen RUNNING TIME: 25m
In the Soviet Arctic town of Barentsburg lives a coal miner, Viktor. At 78 degrees North, isolation is a way of life for him. He is caught on the threshold of losing his hearing in a world that is falling apart. His pride, loves and memories are shattered into disparate parts. Lost among the unforgiving white of the arctic, his reality melts into only one urge – connection. He must try to contact his son, his only lifeline. But what can be said down the line of silence awaiting him?
FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE MY GRANDFATHER TOLD ME WHY I AM ALIVE TODAY UKKI KERTOI HAUDAN TAKAA, MIKSI MINÄ ELÄN
FINLAND 2017 DIRECTOR: Otso Alanko PRODUCER: Otso Alanko RUNNING TIME: 4m
20 years after the death of his grandfather, a young man finds an audio cassette in the attic of his grandparent’s house. On the tape, his grandfather tells him a horrific true story from the Battle of Tornio at the end of World War II, and how one small decision could have changed everything.
THE COMET KOMETEN
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Victor Lindgren PRODUCER: Therese Högberg RUNNING TIME: 11m
Two men hiding behind a fence at a border checkpoint. They have just embarked on their escape from oppression and persecution of homosexuals in their home country. Only one of them will make it to Sweden. He is the comet.
WAKE UP ELENA WAKE UP MORIT ELENA MORIT
SWEDEN / NORWAY 2017 DIRECTORS: Inga-Wiktoria Påve & Anders Sunna PRODUCERS: Inga-Wiktoria Påve & Anders Sunna RUNNING TIME: 5m
Colonialization has sneaked upon the Sami people. It is time to wake up and rebuild, and connect to the nature and traditions.
I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, CONNY I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, KINGEN
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Amanda Kernell PRODUCER: Kaj Snijder RUNNING TIME: 30m
It’s minus 30 degrees and twenty-year-old Conny walks around like a restless criminal with his hoodie up in a small forgotten village in Northern Sweden. He's not welcome anywhere and the whole village seems to hate him. Yesterday he panicked and drove away from his girlfriend’s delivery of their baby - but now he has repented and wants to come back. But what will it take for her to forgive him?
FFN – Shorts 2
SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION
BIRDS IN THE EARTH EATNANVULOŠ LOTTIT – MAAN SISÄLLÄ LINNUT
FINLAND 2017 DIRECTOR: Marja Helander PRODUCER: Marja Helander RUNNING TIME: 10m
A short film based on dance, that tells its story through the performance by two young Sámi ballet students. It’s about the nature in Sápmi, the youth and the dance. It also looks at deeper questions about the ownership of Sámi land and the Sámi’s right in today’s Finland, where the contradiction between nature and the modern lifestyle is blurred with humor.
VOLCANO VULKAN
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Ann Holmgren PRODUCER: Sara Sjöö RUNNING TIME: 20m
An existential road movie by foot in Kiruna, a small town in Northern Sweden, inhabited by immigrants, mine workers and the native Sami. Edith wants to understand life and heads out to search for answers among people she meets in the streets. The film is based on real-life conversations and provides a thoughtful and funny picture of contemporary thoughts on life.
UP NORTH NORD
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: The Sporadic Film Collective w/ Mattis Herman Nyquist PRODUCER: The Sporadic Film Collective RUNNING TIME: 9m
A movie with great prospects and narrow insights, about rationalities and irrationalities. About how to see Norway, and the world - without the real ability to see anything.
OVER THE EDGE I OVERKANT
NORWAY 2017 DIRECTOR: Simen Gjersvold PRODUCER: Nordland College of Art and Film RUNNING TIME: 13m
A self-reflective mockumentary about a striving film student trying to live up to his own expectations and ambitions during the shoot of his graduation film. Who said following your dreams was supposed to be fun?
P.O.V
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Jonas Selberg Augustsén PRODUCER: Kaj Snijder RUNNING TIME: 20m
A group of young men have gathered for a winter holiday in the Lapland mountains. All of them qualified snowmobile drivers within the extreme sports culture and everyone eagerly documenting with their mandatory helmet cameras. We see footage from one camera, that shows tendencies of peer pressure in a subculture.
@JANABRINGLOVE
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Jana Bringlöv Ekspong PRODUCER: Therese Högberg RUNNING TIME: 5m
Josef tries to flee the feeling of a bad dream. He goes online where he meets the phantom @janabringlove on webcam. But the consequences of the meeting are not what he imagined. @janabringlove is fed up with the degradation of pleasing others.
FFN – Shorts 3
SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION
WILD BEASTS VILLDYR
NORWAY 2017 DIRECTOR: Sverre Kvamme PRODUCER: Nordland College of Art and Film RUNNING TIME: 10m
In the middle of winter in Northern Norway and surrounded by a wild group of kids, a young boy’s impulses are affected by his attraction to his best friend.
VISION OF WONDER UNDERSYN
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Aleksander Johan Andreassen PRODUCER: Aleksander Johan Andreassen RUNNING TIME: 16m
vision of wonder presents a fictional portrait of the filmmaker’s father Rune. A carpenter late in his working life, Rune starts to experience visual hallucinations and a scattered experience of reality.
RIVER IS NOTHING Не для речки
RUSSIA 2017 DIRECTOR: Alisa Khmelnitskaya PRODUCER: Anatoly Konychev RUNNING TIME: 29m
Nadia, a musically gifted 13-year old lives in a village on an island in the North Dvina river in Russia. Along with the boatman Misha, who she is in love with, she travels the river selling goods from Arkhangelsk to the villagers. Once a music teacher finds out about Nadia’s talent, Misha takes her to get lessons. The music teacher, a compelling woman named Vera, will stir up the relationship between the two youngsters.
KILLING GRANDMA DÖDA FARMOR
SVERIGE 2017 DIRECTOR: Lars Persson PRODUCER: Isabelle Björklund RUNNING TIME: 21m
It's the 1990's and two young girls are training for the gaming tournament QuakeCon. When they reluctantly must spend time with one of the girl's grandmother, they discover that she is a lively woman with a strong will.
FFN – Doc 1
DOCUMENTARIES IN COMPETITION
NEIGHBORS NABOER
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Trond Kvig Andreassen PRODUCER: Natalya Sarch RUNNING TIME: 40m
A woman is found dead in her apartment in the middle of Oslo. She’s been dead for more than a month. No next of kin, friends or family. How do you remember someone no one knew? The film explores how an anonymous life still leaves an imprint, even if it’s led without much contact with other people in the middle of a city. How is she remembered by her neighbors?
UNDER TWO SKIES JUURET ON
FINLAND 2017 DIRECTORS: Suvi West & Anssi Kömi PRODUCER: Janne Niskala RUNNING TIME: 13m
Film director Suvi is a young Sámi woman living in Helsinki. Her life is changing with her upcoming first child. She is longing back to her ancestral land in the North and would like her child to have a northern identity. Anssi, Suvi's partner, is deeply in love with her and don’t want to lose her for the Sámi land. He doesn't feel at home up North, but he wants her to be happy and considers this totally different lifestyle. Is it all longing for nostalgia? A dream that doesn't exist?
ELEKTRO
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Thor Brenne PRODUCER: Thor Brenne RUNNING TIME: 16m
A portrait of the director's dawning transition from young to adult that centers around positive contributions from individuals in a period of life filled with confusion and unclear prospects.
FFN – Doc 2
DOCUMENTARY FILM IN COMPETITION
BURNING MEMORIES
BRENNENDE MINNER
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Ellen-Astri Lundby PRODUCER: Ellen-Astri Lundby RUNNING TIME: 58m
A film about being a child at wartime. We get to know six elders that became refugees in their own country in the fall of 1944, and their meetings with today´s refugees and multicultural children in Finnmark. The film explores the biggest trauma of civilians in Norway during the second World War.
50,000 people were deported southwards, another 20,000 fled and hid in the mountains, while their homes were burnt down. The film is an invitation to reflect upon today´s refugee crisis.
FFN – Doc 3
DOCUMENTARY FILM IN COMPETITION
AGNETA
SWEDEN 2018 DIRECTOR: Patrik Witkowsky PRODUCER: Patrik Witkowsky RUNNING TIME: 60m
Agneta Norberg is an 80-year old peace activist who has spent decades protesting military bases and war exercises around the globe. The documentary focuses, in a fun and personal way, on one of the most acute problems facing our civilization: military build-up for war.
FFN – Into The Wild
THREE DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT PASSION AND PLAYING IN THE ARCTIC WILD
WILDERNESS VILLMARK
NORWAY 2017 DIRECTOR: Arthur Arnesen PRODUCER: Arthur Arnesen RUNNING TIME: 26m
The film follows Tove and Torkils participation in Finnmarksløpet 2017, the northernmost dogsledding race on the planet. Tove has completed the race 19 times and has a vast experience after 40 years in the business. Her son Torkil has completed the race once before and is aiming for the longest dogsledding race in the world in 2018 - The Iditarod in Alaska.
BREATHE IN
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Francisco Mattos PRODUCER: Francisco Mattos RUNNING TIME: 30m
World Champion kiter Kari Schibevaag and four colleagues embark on a 15-day long expedition to cross Svalbard from the south to the north. They want to document climate changes and explore the arctic nature while using the power of the wind and kites to move. The team face extreme conditions and dangers, from glacier cracks to securing their camp sites in areas inhabited by polar bears.
CAMERA TRAP
CANADA 2017 DIRECTOR: Marty O’Brien PRODUCER: Kelly Milner RUNNING TIME: 25m
Aspiring wilderness photographer, Peter Mather puts everything on the line in his quest to get one photo that will tell the story of the Porcupine caribou herd and the greatest land migration on earth. camera trap provides an intimate portrait of Peter, exploring what is behind his obsession with protecting the herd and the lengths he will go to get the perfect shot.
FFN – Strangers In The North
FOUR SHORT FILMS ABOUT REFUGEES, BEING ON THE RUN AND LOOKING FOR A NEW HOME
AQUARIUM AKVARIUM
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Yvonne Thomassen PRODUCER: Linn Henriksen RUNNING TIME: 13m
Young boy Amir is about to freeze to death and is forced to find shelter from the cold winter storms. This leads to an unexpected meeting between past and present.
WELCOME HOME VELKOMMEN TIL OSS
NORWAY 2017 DIRECTOR: Armita Keyani PRODUCER: Nordland College of Art and Film RUNNING TIME: 16m
Set in the North of Norway, an Iranian refugee couple invite two Jehovah's Witnesses in when they knock on their door. welcome home explores culture clashes, misunderstandings and the assumptions we make based on background and appearances.
STRANDED
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Viktor Johansson PRODUCER: Linus Andersson RUNNING TIME: 11m
Tariq is a Pakistani refugee facing deportation from Sweden, forced to hide from the authorities. Nathalie, a worker at the refugee center, has decided to help him and they drive on the icy roads on her motorcycle. During his escape to Europe, Tariq got word of a mysterious island of the coast of Sweden, where refugees are building their own society. With the help of Nathalie he must get there.
MEET ME IN HOLMSUND DEN BLOMSTERTID NU KOMMER
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Victor Lindgren PRODUCER: Therese Högberg RUNNING TIME: 15m
Sabina has traveled from Romania to Holmsund in Sweden to look for work along with her brothers. Elin has just finished school and celebrates the first day of the summer holidays. That night they meet, a meeting that lasts forever.
FFN – Young Directors/Student Films
SIX VERY DIFFERENT SHORTS BY FILM SCHOOL STUDENTS AND UP-AND-COMING FILMMAKERS
GIITU
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Olve Aslaksen PRODUCER: Pernille Nilsen RUNNING TIME: 18m
A woman returns home to her father and childhood home, after being gone for 20 years. Her purpose for the visit is to deliver the message that her mother has passed away.
YOUR HEIGHT, YOUR STANCE HØYDEN DIN, HOLDNINGA DI
NORWAY 2017 DIRECTOR: Sverre Matias Glenne PRODUCER: Nordland College of Art and Film RUNNING TIME: 10m
A film about Kaja, transformation and measuring oneself up to the scale of others.
TO MEET IN A CAR Å MØTES I EN BIL
NORWAY 2017 DIRECTOR: Mali Galaaen Røsseth PRODUCER: Nordland College of Art and Film RUNNING TIME: 24m
In the spring of 2016 a Norwegian film student hitchhikes through Europe and documents her meetings with people in cars. The camera on the windshield reveals the different forms of communication going on and how the strangers deal with each other’s presence in the small space of a car. Sometimes there is a connection, other times not.
WHO IS ANDRÉ (AND WHAT HAS THE WORLD DONE TO HIM?) HVEM ER ANDRÉ (OG HVA HAR VERDEN GJORT MED HAM?)
NORWAY 2017 DIRECTOR: Øystein Jørstad Qviller PRODUCER: Nordland College of Art and Film RUNNING TIME: 4m
A study of a person no one knows.
TIDE TIDEVANN
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Margareta F. A. Orkan PRODUCER: Rasmus Eilertsen Bergli RUNNING TIME: 10m
Ruben, a father in his thirties, is intensely working on his small row boat. He needs it to work just as surely as the tide rolls in and out every day. All the work he puts in the boat he does for his daughter.
FISH
SWEDEN 2017 DIRECTOR: Martin Åhlin PRODUCER: Stefan Hencz RUNNING TIME: 19m
A man discovers a mysterious creature hidden in a boat at the marina. Meanwhile, somewhere else a different man is on a hunt for blood.
FFN – PARKERT
SPECIAL SCREENING I
PARKED PARKERT
NORWAY 2018 DIRECTOR: Fredrik Mortensen PRODUCER: Fredrik Mortensen RUNNING TIME: 1h 5m
Per "Parker" Andreassen had every opportunity to do what he wanted with his life. After experimenting with hard drugs in his youth, he gradually became one of Northern Norway’s most famous characters. Known for his drug fueled obnoxious behavior and criminal activity. A career that lasted for 40 years.
parked is a portrait of him and his last living years, where we go beyond the well-known character and explore the human behind it.
FFN – JOURNEYS TO ADÄKA
SPECIAL SCREENING II
JOURNEYS TO ADÄKA
CANADA 2017 PRODUCER: Teresa Earle DIRECTOR: Fritz Mueller RUNNING TIME: 57m
In the Southern Tutchone language «adäka» means coming into the light. The story of seven indigenous artists who look to the past for the strength to overcome a legacy of hurt, becoming cultural giants and leaders in the process.
This documentary follows its subjects as they prepare for the Adäka Cultural Festival in Whitehorse, Yukon. Artists and their families are reconnecting with their ancestors, healing, and moving personal mountains to each find their light.
