Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights

Blekkmetal

2016

Presented by Grimposium and Uneasy Sleeper. Blekkmetal is a documentary about the one-off 2015 festival celebrating the origins of Norwegian black metal. Featuring exclusive interviews and footage of Enslaved, Taake, Aeternus, Gehenna, Helheim, Old Funeral, Kampfar, Hades Almighty and Gaahls Wyrd performing classic and rare songs from their catalog, Blekkmetal features an all-Canadian production team including director David Hall (alumnus of Concordia University), metal studies scholars Vivek Venkatesh (Concordia University) and Jason Wallin (University of Alberta), and mobile media scholar Owen Chapman (Concordia University). Blekkmetal is co-produced by the festival’s organizers Ivar Bjørnson, Jannicke Wiese-Hansen and Kirsti Rosseland.

Under Thin Ice

2019

Two Canadian experts in underwater filming, Mario Cyr and Jill Heinerth, join forces for the first time to record how Arctic wildlife is adapting to the dramatic effects of climate change.

First Light

Residents of the world’s northernmost town, which is steeped in darkness four months per year, grapple with why they inhabit such a hostile place—and how their unique relationship to the sun changes the meaning of light and darkness within their own lives.

The Antarctic Syndrome

2019 · ★ 6.5

Does doctor Jan Terelak belong to an “elitist” group of the most unethical experimenters? The Polish scientist tested boundaries of human mental resilience in extreme conditions of solitude in Antarctica. The starting point for Piotr Jaworski's documentary is the psychologist's journal. The project from forty years ago was focused on studying the mental condition of polar explorers at the Polish station. Men were in the situation of confinement, comparable to a space mission. The film reconstructs these events, referring to the then contemporary context and changes in the perception of science.

Vi som solgte landet

2025 · ★ 6.5

No synopsis available.

Children of Stars

2023 · ★ 6

Astrophysicist Jean Surdej brings a small group of teenage pupils on a trip to the Lofoten islands in northern Norway, for a very special class on the solar system. Using the geography of the archipelago to illustrate the distances between the planets, they journey through space by car and ferry, with the picturesque landscapes standing in for the black emptiness that surround the heavenly bodies. A masterstroke of both pedagogy and filmmaking, Children of Stars is a captivating documentary about humanity's place in the grand scheme of things.

Nanook of the North

1922 · ★ 7.1

This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.

Arctique, la conquête glaciale

2015

Dark fears over the North Pole. Long sheltered from large-scale industrial exploitation, the Arctic is now at risk of becoming the last El Dorado for major oil companies. This, combined with the melting of ice caused by global warming, poses enormous ecological risks: the impact of an oil spill, for example, would be incomparably more serious in this extreme climate than in any other part of the world.

Highway to the Arctic

2017 · ★ 7

Every winter for decades, the Northwest Territories, in the Canadian Far North, changes its face. While the landscape is covered with snow and lakes of a thick layer of ice, blocking land transport, ice roads are converted to frozen expanses as far as the eye can see.

Charcot: Secret Poles

2016 · ★ 7.9

The adventures and exploits of Jean-Baptiste Charcot (1867-1936), an intrepid scientist and explorer who laid the foundations of modern oceanography.

Svalbard er mitt hjem

1973

Strong film about trapper Fredrik Rubach who has wintered in Svalbard for 34 seasons.

Winged Migration

2001 · ★ 7.6

This documentary follows various migratory bird species on their long journeys from their summer homes to the equator and back, covering thousands of miles and navigating by the stars. These arduous treks are crucial for survival, seeking hospitable climates and food sources. Birds face numerous challenges, including crossing oceans and evading predators, illness, and injury. Although migrations are undertaken as a community, birds disperse into family units once they reach their destinations, and every continent is affected by these migrations, hosting migratory bird species at least part of the year.