Tromsö 2007

"Still Life" by Jia Zhang-ke

This Norwegian International Film Festival takes place when the sun returns to the horizon, when it's still possible to experience the Northern Lights — in Tromsö, the gateway to the Arctic. It was established in 1991 and specialized in quality films without Norwegian distribution. It's the world's northernmost film event and presents a cutting edge international program — contemporary art films, documentaries and feature-length films from all continents, including an overview on new Norwegian productions. It has gradually become the Norwegian festival with the largest audience and functions as a showcase for non-commercial cinema.

The critics' jury selected Jia Zhang-ke's film Still Life as best film of the competition. The film, which had won Venice' Golden Lion a few months ago, tells the story of a village, Fengjie, which has been flooded in the course of a project called "The Three Gorges Dam" situated on the Yangtse river — project which forced the population around to leave there homes, to be relocated in other places.

Details of the prize
Tromsö International Film Festival, January 16-21, 2007: www.tiff.no

Reports:

North. Freedom. Hope. Science. One of the world’s most northern film festivals, taking place in January, may not be the automatic choice but Julia Khomiakova demonstrates how the exuberant atmosphere and challenging program made it such a worthwhile visit.
Small is Beautiful. The impressive amount of voluntary help from the Tromsø public was evident and created more interest in the films. Odd Vaagland also noticed one recurrent theme in the competition program, that of longing.
Virtual Standstill. With its account of emerging concrete monsters in the background foretelling the destruction of an old way of life, Tibor Hirsch believes FIPRESCI Prize-winner Still life has been the making of a contemporary masterpiece.

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