Harstad Kino, screen 2
We are showing a two-part retrospective programme of work by artist Helene Sommer. The work consits of selected films from the period 2007 – 2022. This is programme 1.
Conversation with artist and curator Ida Lykken Ghosh after the screening.
High Over the Border, 2:54, 2007/ 2017/ 2022.
The fake game, 31 min. 2015.
No Man's Land, 26 min. 2012-2013.
About the films:
Programme 1
High Over the Border is about a film-clip of a hummingbird in flight, which migrated from the Nazis via New York Zoological Society and ended up in a Canadian documentary about bird migration.
HD (16mm transferred to dvd, transferred to HD) 2:54 min, 2007/2017/2022, English
Det falske spill (The Fake Game) takes as a starting point Dæmonen (The Demon), a lost Norwegian film from 1911. The only part of the film that exists today is coincidentally what was censored, the rest is gone. Det falske spill is a reconstruction of Dæmonen by using clips from films – new and old – from the film archive at the National Library of Norway – a silent compilation film using intertitles to narrate the story, with a voice-over reflecting on the role of that which is lost in relation to archives and history.
HD 31 min, 2014-15. Norwegian w/English subtitles.
No Man’s Land tells a story about a place in the very high north through a journey of preconceived images, myths, histories and firsthand experiences.
The point of departure is a trip with a research vessel in the Arctic Ocean with scientists, where questions emerges concerning the discrepancy between to see and to know and how the production of images and knowledge will always be intertwined.
No man’s land comprises a mix of the artist’s own material: film, photo and interviews, together with a range of sampled material from movies, documentaries, books and encyclopedias. The story is narrated by a man who refers to a woman reporting from a ship at the top of the world. It includes thoughts and observations as well as historical anecdotes and facts; like failed expeditions, polar heroes, geopolitics and the role of women in a male dominated geographical area.
HD 26 min, 2012-2013. English.