Press Release Arctic Film Festival 2025 (EN)

Arctic Film Festival 2025

10 – 11 May 2025

The Arctic Film Festival 2025 will take place from 10-11 May at the Nordover. This year’s programme consists of 14 short and feature films by upcoming and established filmmakers. Using the power of independent cinema, the Festival puts Earth, humans and their in-between connection in the epicentre, drawing attention to environmental topics and SDG goals.

Featuring three different themes, the AFF 2025 brings real-life stories, narrations and fiction films to the big screen. Remote places, unknown cultures and the struggles humans face unfold through documentary and fiction films of various genres.

Under the theme ‘Happy Together’, the Festival’s first day navigates the challenges of human relationships through stories of first loves, family bonds, and friendships. The screenings kick off with a film selection of five indie shorts. The multi-awarded ‘Love Bubbles’ by Marcel Hobi, Sara Selmer Moland’s ‘I Felt I Had To Be Here’ and Latchkey Kids by Sindre Mangen Haram are some of this programme’s films. The day’s feature film is ‘Three Infallible Rules’ by Marco Gianfreda.

On the second day of the Arctic Film Festival 2025, screenings start with the theme ‘Indigenous Voices’. Through a strong film selection, this programme gives voice to Indigenous communities from various places in the world and shares their powerful messages. From the Indigenous forest defenders of the Brazilian Amazon in ‘Our Grandparents Hunted Here’ (Abdel Mandili, Julian Busquets Moura) to Greenland in Inuk Jørgensen’s ‘Entropy’ and to the Ponca Nation in Oklahoma with Gavin Hartigan’s ‘Water Has a Memory’.

The second programme is dedicated to Svalbard, the place that inspired the foundation of the Arctic Film Festival. Paying tribute to the awe-inspiring Norwegian archipelago, ‘A Love Letter to Svalbard’ features three films that talk about life here where the sun disappears for months and the ice stretches beyond the horizon.

Discover all films of the 2025 Arctic Film Festival programme and join us on the 10th and 11th of May at the Nordover.

Programme

DAY 1 | 10 May

HAPPY TOGETHER

Love, family, friendship – our lives are shaped by the connections we build but being happy together is rarely as effortless as it sounds. Through a feature film and a short film selection, this theme dives into the joys and struggles of relationships unravelling the fragile, unpredictable, and deeply human ways we hold on to each other. From first loves and fractured families to lifelong friendships and the weight of loss, the programme ‘Happy Together’ is a tapestry of moments of warmth, heartbreak, humour, and quiet revelation.

18:00 – 19:30 | SHORT FILMS

▪️Bahamas • Maxime Bultot • 14′ • Belgium • 2024 • Short Film Competition

▪️Goldfish For Breakfast • Uriël Matahelumual • 15′ • Netherlands • 2024 • Short Film Competition

▪️Latchkey Kids • Sindre Mangen Haram •21′ • Norway • 2023 • Student Film Competition, Norwegian Production Competition

▪️Love Bubbles • Marcel Hobi • 8′ • Switzerland • 2023 • Animation Competition

▪️I Felt I Had To Be Here • Sara Selmer Moland • 28′ • Norway • 2024 • Student Film Competition • Norwegian Production Competition

**Break: 19:30 – 19:40**

19.40 – 21.25 | FEATURE FILM

▪️Three Infallible Rules • Marco Gianfreda • 98′ • Italy • 2024 • Feature Film Competition

DAY 2 | 11 May

18:00 – 19:35 | INDIGENOUS VOICES

‘Indigenous Voices’ programme brings together storytelling, activism, and lived experience through five powerful short films. Each one opens a window into the Indigenous people’s resilience, wisdom, and struggles as they navigate climate change, cultural preservation, and the fight for their rights. From the Arctic to the Amazon, this programme explores the sacred connections of people and nature and the enduring strength of tradition calling us to listen to those who have safeguarded the Earth for generations.

▪️Preserving Our Place • Jeremey Lavoi • 13′ • United States • 2023 • SDG Films – Goal 13: Climate Action

▪️Our Grandparents Hunted Here • Abdel Mandili, Julian Busquets Moura • 23′ • Netherlands • 2024 • Short Documentary Competition

▪️Entropy • Inuk Jørgensen • 10′ • Greenland • 2024 • SDG Films – Goal 13: Climate Action Competition

▪️Water Has a Memory • Gavin Hartigan • 12′ • Canada • 2023 • Short Documentary Competition

▪️Uapishka • Marie France L’Ecuyer • 28′ • Canada • 2023 • Short Documentary Competition

**Break: 19:35 – 19:45**

19:45 – 21:15 | A LOVE LETTER TO SVALBARD

A land of extremes, Svalbard is as unforgiving as it is breathtaking. Through the experiences and stories of natives, inhabitants, and passersby, ‘A Love Letter to Svalbard’ reveals the different aspects of life in the Arctic. In a place that is both untamed and deeply loved, the delicate balance between human presence and the forces of nature is a prerequisite for survival.

▪️An Arctic Journey • William Mermoud • 50′ • France • 2024 • Feature Documentary Competition

▪️In the World of Possibilities • Rojda Tugrul • 8′ • Norway • 2024 • Animation Competition

▪️First Light • Kristopher Roller, Alex Broadstock • 31′ • United States • 2024 • Short Documentary Competition

Address

Nordover

SJ, Vei 225 2, Longyearbyen 9170, Svalbard & Jan Mayen

+47 79 02 21 50

Ticket Price: 100NOK

**Films are in English or with English subtitles**

Links:

www.arcticfilmfestival.net/