ARTIC LIGHT AS

A CALL FROM THE WILD

A CALL FROM THE WILD /

SKAL HILSE FRA NATUREN

SYNOPSIS

Filmmaker Asgeir Helgestad documents the state of nature at his home country Norway, where he has photographed all his life. From the lives of bees at his farm, to wild reindeer on the high mountains, and puffins at the ocean’s edge, he shows the beauty of threatened nature and tracks down human actions responsible for its decline. This is a personal story on our connection with the non-human world, the relations between the small and the big, and a reminder of nature’s strength and vulnerability.

DIRECTOR NOTES

This film is my tribute to nature in Norway and a cry for its loss. Through an emotional and gripping exploration of nature’s diversity and interconnectedness, my vision is to elicit respect and love. I want to awaken us to what we are about to lose.
My camera moves from the invisible microlevel to the majestic, open landscapes with a rhythm that is both mesmerizing and meditative. I know how to capture a perfect image, but it feels insincere when my heart is filled with sorrow for nature´s decline. My aim is to take the viewers on an experiential journey of joy, loss, pain, and hope that can be felt with our body and mind. The film’s music and soundscapes embrace these emotional contrasts. 
To achieve this aim, I focus on three main actors – puffins, wild reindeer, and bees – in their respective ecosystems, and follow closely their lives and challenges. Their intimate portraits encourage empathy and compassion and are imperceptibly connected with my own perspective. What I communicate is passion and curiosity together with indignation, and urgency. As the sixth mass extinction of species on earth marches on at an accelerating rate, we need to regain our deep connection to nature. With this film I want to communicate one of the most important issues of our times for us humans and for all those we share this planet with.

 

CREDITS

Director and original idea: ASGEIR HELGSESTAD
Script: ASGEIR HELGESTAD, ANNE ELVEDAL
Director of photography: ASGEIR HELGESTAD
Editor: KLAUS MÜLLER, ASGEIR HELGESTAD
Composer: OLIVER HEUSS
Sound design: ANDERS TVETEN, ERIK WATLAND
Re-recording mixer: BENT HOLM, ANDERS TVETEN
Sound recording Runde: EIVIND WALBERG
Additional photography: ARNT MOLLAN, JØRN STENERSEN, AUGUSTUS MOLTUBAKK, SARA MONTOYA, TORA KYLLINGSTAD
Sound mix & Color editing studio: SHORTCUT OSLO
Colorist: DYLAN R. HOPKIN
Narrator: ASGEIR HELGESTAD
Graphic design: SUPERULTRAPLUS DESIGNSTUDIO
Translation: AGELIKI LEFKADITOU, SANDRA ULVÆR
Scientific consultants: ANNE SVERDRUP–THYGESON, ALV OTTAR FOLKESTAD, MIKAELA EMBLA OLSEN
Marketing consultant: FREDDY NEUMANN
Impact strategy services: TOGETHER FILMS
Field assistants: INGAR STØYLE BRINGSVOR, TORBJØRN LINDSETH, JAN VIDAR HANSEN, OLE MARTIN DALE, JOSTEIN HELLEVIK, TERJE HILDEN, OVE APALSET, SVEIN WIK, JEANETTE FRAZER, HEINRICH EGGENFELNER, KNUT SOLBERG, NORTHCAPE NATURE, KÅRE GÅRDER (IN MEMORY OF)
Archive: ARTIC LIGHT AS / JAN HAFT AND FLORIAN GRANER, DOCLIGHTS GMBH / MOLLAN MEDIA / «FUGLEFJELLET PÅ RUNDE» AND «ÅRET 1970 – HJEMME», NRK / BIRGITTA MUEK, CRYSTAL WATER FILM PRODUCTION AB / SVERRE A. BØRRETZEN, AKTUELL, NORWEGIAN NEWS AGENCY / “ØVRE ÅRDAL”, GUNNAR ENGEBRETSEN, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NORWAY / ROMSDALS BUDSTIKKE, 26/05/1970, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NORWAY

Producers: AGELIKI LEFKADITOU and ASGEIR HELGESTAD for ARTIC LIGHT
Assistant producer: THEODORA LEFKADITOU for ARTIC LIGHT
Executive producer: BRITTA KIESEWETTER for DOCLIGHTS

International distribution: ALBATROSS WORLD SALES
Festival distribution: ARTIC LIGHT, NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE, ALBATROSS WORLD SALES

Film consultants: ANNA J. LJUNGMARK, NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE / EIRIN GJØRV, NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE / JANIC HEEN, VIKEN FILMSENTER / CECILIE STRANGER-THORSEN, VIKEN FILMSENTER

Financed by: NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE, VIKEN FILMSENTER, CREATIVE EUROPE – MEDIA PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION, NORWEGIAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, NDR, TERRA MATER STUDIOS, SVT, NRK, ARTIC LIGHT AS

Development forum: SUNNY SIDE OF THE DOC – GLOBAL PITCH SELECTION 2021

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Format: DOCUMENTARY 
Genre: PERSONAL, PARTICIPATORY, POETIC, NATURE & ENVIRONMENT
Expected release date: April 2024
Length: 81 and 52 MIN 
Screening format: 4K DCP, ProRes UHD
Screen ratio: 2.39:1, 16:9
Frame rate: 25 fps
Shooting Format: 4–8K
Sound format: 7.1 cinema-mix, 5.1 TV-mix, stereo
Language: NORWEGIAN, ENGLISH
Subtitles: NORWEGIAN, ENGLISH
Production country: NORWAY 
Production company: ARTIC LIGH AS 
Co-Producer: DOCLIGHTS GmbH