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“SLÅR PUSTEN UT AV MEG”
– BERGENS TIDENDE
FESTIVAL JURY
”We recognize this film for showcasing big issues from the inside out, by embracing intimacy to tell a story of scope and creatively use contrast to get us to care.”
Jury statement, 47th International Wildlife Film Festival, Missoula, USA
“Asgeir Helgestad's documentary is a stunningly intimate and powerful portrayal of the natural world in his home country of Norway. Through his lifelong lens, we witness the delicate balance of ecosystems, from the bees on his farm to the wild reindeer roaming the mountains and puffins at the ocean’s edge. Helgestad masterfully highlights both the beauty of nature and the urgent threats it faces due to human actions. This deeply personal narrative reminds us of our vital connection to the non-human world, capturing both the resilience and vulnerability of nature with grace and clarity.”
Jury statement, 22nd Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Estonia
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.
SPESIALVISNINGER / SPECIAL SCREENINGS NORWAY
ELVERUM: 26. november, Elverum kulturhus
RØDBERG: 24. november, Rødberg kino
HAMAR: 14. november, Hamar kino
OSLO: 31. oktober, NFkino Klingenberg
OSLO: 31. oktober, NFkino Symra
SIRDAL: 29. oktober, Sirdal kino
STAVANGER: 29. oktober, ODEON Stavanger
TØNSBERG: 28. oktober, NFkino Kilden
HORTEN: 24. oktober, NFkino Horten
KRISTIANSAND: 23. oktober, Kristiansand kino
ARENDAL: 22. oktober, Arendal kino
DRAMMEN: 15. oktober, Drammen kino
LILLEHAMMER: 14. oktober, Lillehammer kino
OSLO: 12. oktober, Colosseum kino
KONGSBERG: 11. oktober, Kongsberg kino
KONGSBERG: 9. oktober, Kongsberg kino
FLORØ: 3. oktober, Florø kino
FØRDE: 2. oktober, Kino Førde
FOSNAVÅG: 1. oktober, Fosnavåg kino
TRONDHEIM: 30. september, Trondheim kino
FREDRIKSTAD: 28. og 29. september, Nordic/Docs
FREDRIKSTAD: 17. september, §112 Fredrikstad
TROMSØ: 15. september, Aurora kino
NORDKAPP: 14. september, Nordkapp Filmfestival
HAUGESUND: 20. og 21. august, The Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund, Norway
AWARDS, NOMINATIONS & FESTIVALS
Winner of Sustainable Planet Award, 47th International Wildlife Film Festival, Missoula, USA
Winner of People’s Choice Award, 47th International Wildlife Film Festival, Missoula, USA
Winner Cinematography Award, Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Winner of Natural History Feature Award, Wildlife Vaasa International Nature Film Festival, Finland
Special Jury Prize (Human and Nature), Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Estonia
Best Director (nominee), Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Estonia
Best Photo (nominee), Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Estonia
Winner of Nature Protection Award, International Ornithological Film Festival in Ménigoute, France
Winner of Best Foreign Feature Award, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Mexico
Gabriel Figueroa Special Award, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Mexico
Finalist Conservation Category, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Mexico
Semi-Finalist Endangered Ecosystem Category, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, Mexico
Winner of Best Eco Documentary Award, San Pedro International Film Festival, USA
Best Story (nominee), Green Screen International Wildlife Film Festival, Germany
Nordic Nature Film Award (nominee), Green Screen International Wildlife Film Festival, Germany
Best Score (nominee), Green Screen International Wildlife Film Festival, Germany
Sound Panda Award (nominee), Wildscreen Festival, UK
Official Selection, The Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund, Norway
Official Selection (in competition), Nordic/Docs, Norway
Beauty of Nature (in competition), EKOFILM, Czech Republic
Official Selection, EIDF 2024, 21st EBS International Documentary, South Korea
Official Selection, Festival International Nature Namur, Belgium
Official Selection, European Wildlife Film Awards, Germany
Official Selection (in competition), Sondrio International Film Festival, Italy
Public Award (nominee), Greenmotions Film Festival, Germany
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.
TV, PODCASTS, RADIO & ONLINE ARTICLES
“Naturfotograf Asgeir Helgestad”, Fotopodden
“En kjærlighetserklæring til naturen”, NRK
God morgon Møre og Romsdal, NRK Radio
“Årets viktigste film?”, Motvind Norge
“Vakker hyllest til naturen”, Naturvernforbundet
“‘Skal hilse fra naturen’ – En kjærlighetserklæring og et varsko om norsk natur”, NaturviterPodden
Roxy Radio with Mike Smith and Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson
POSTER
CREDITS
Director and original idea: ASGEIR HELGESTAD
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
PRODUCTION DETAILS
Format: DOCUMENTARY
Genre: PERSONAL, PARTICIPATORY, POETIC, NATURE & ENVIRONMENT
Release date: April 2024
Also known as: Norway – A Call from the Wild
Length: 81, 52 and 43 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 and 5.1 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
Producers: AGELIKI LEFKADITOU and ASGEIR HELGESTAD for ARTIC LIGHT
Assistant producer: THEODORA LEFKADITOU for ARTIC LIGHT
Executive producer: BRITTA KIESEWETTER for DOCLIGHTS
Film consultants: ANNA J. LJUNGMARK, NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE / EIRIN GJØRV, NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE / JANIC HEEN, VIKEN FILMSENTER / CECILIE STRANGER-THORSEN, VIKEN FILMSENTER
Production advisors: HELEN PRESTGARD, NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE / OLA HUNNES, NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE
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
International distribution: ALBATROSS WORLD SALES
Cinema distribution and marketing Norway: NORSK FILMDISTRIBUSJON
PR and press Norway: KULTURMEGLERNE
Festival distribution: ARTIC LIGHT, NORWEGIAN FILM INSTITUTE, ALBATROSS WORLD SALES