HD 2.39:1
Colour
Non spoken
34'10"
A breathtaking helicopter landing drops us smack in the middle of an isolated community of Russian miners in Barentsburg (Spitsbergen, Svalbard). In recent years, the coal industry in this region has seen a dramatic decline, but the state-owned mining company, Arktikugol Trust is nonetheless determined to maintain its long-standing geostrategic position. In order to ensure the survival of this former Soviet outpost, the miners continue their laborious tasks to be self-sufficient in their power supply. In a land of extremes—while trying to defy the natural laws of the Arctic—they routinely submit to "the machine's hunger for coal". Outpost gradually discloses a series of dark observations with regard to a faltering industrial model that stubbornly seems to be heading for its final phase.
The film was shot in October 2015 and March 2016, each time over a period of two weeks, and was made possible thanks to the warm support of the residents of Barentsburg.
Outpost was nominated for the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2018.
The film was screened or exhibited at:
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Atelier Arthur Rogiers, Initia, Brussels (BE), 2019
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Visite Film Festival 5, De Imagerie, Het Bos, Antwerp (BE), 2018
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MACRO | Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rome (IT), 2018
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Rencontres Internationales, HKW, Berlin (DE), 2018
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Lima Independiente, Lima (PE), 2018
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Rencontres Internationales, Paris (FR), 2018
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Beursschouwburg, Brussels (BE), 2018
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IFFR, International Film Festival Rotterdam (NL), 2018
Credits:
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Produced by Escautville
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Co-produced by Music Theatre Transparant
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With the support of the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF)
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Cinematography, Editing and Sound design: Wim Catrysse
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Sound recordist: Jan Van Look
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Local fixers: Ivan Velichenko, Ivan Dementyev, Fyodor Gilbo, Zheka Taganay
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Thanks to: Wouter Van Looy, Trust Arktikugol, Denis Alekseevich Shcherba, the residents of Barentsburg