极地一年

Director
　　Samuel Collardey
　　Screenwriter
　　Samuel Collardey
　　
　　Catherine Paillé
　　Producer
　　Grégoire Debailly
　　Principal Cast
　　Anders Hvidegaard
　　
　　Asser Boassen
　　
　　Julius B. Nielsen
　　
　　Tobias Ignatiussen
　　
　　Thomasine Jonathansen
　　
　　Gert Jonathansen
　　SECTION World Doc
　　COUNTRY France
　　RUN TIME 95 min
　　LANGUAGE Danish/Inuit
　　SUBTITLES Yes with English subtitles
　　COMPANY KINOLOGY
　　EMAIL gmelin@kinology.eu
　　PHONE +33 687510396
　　Although he’s warned to expect boredom and bitter cold, Anders, a young Danish primary school teacher, accepts a post in Tiniteqiilaq, a remote village of 80 inhabitants in Greenland. Arriving with certain preconceptions—the “Danish look” as one villager calls it—Anders contends with cultural differences and an unruly classroom, to say nothing of the snow. Wondering what it takes to be accepted in this “hellhole,” he’s advised to try learning the language and local ways—hunting, sledding, fishing. How hard can it be, he figures, to ride a sled?
　　French filmmaker Samuel Collardey often explores the blurry terrain between fiction and documentary. Meticulously constructed, A Polar Year blends purely documentary sequences with scripted moments involving the villagers. But these distinctions become academic as you give yourself over to cinema that’s thoroughly absorbing and visually breathtaking. Collardey spent months in the village before learning of Anders’s assignment and starting to film. His “reverse assimilation” story reflects delightfully on Eurocentrism as well as on Tiniteqiilaq’s indigenous people, changing seasons, and rhythms of life and death.