At Europe's End (two versions - NOR 90:00 min, 2024 / Europe: 73 min, 2024)

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For my work I have been visiting the area of Northern Norway since 2018. During an Artist in Residency in Vadsø in February 2022, I discovered the Varanger region of East-Finnmark for the first time. Here the idea of a long-term study of this special area was born.

 

What would happen if I come back again and again in regular intervals over a long time?

How would it affect my relationship to the places, people and one self?

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Finnmark is considered one of the most remote areas in Europe. A sparsely populated area, Arctic places characterized by vast landscapes, immense nature and rich history as well as great (cultural) diversity.

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Over the course of 18 months I have been (re)visiting selected places of this region in different stages, throughout different seasons of the year to create some sort of portrait of this unique area, filmed mainly with a mobile phone.

 

I have been focusing on the connection between places and identities while reflecting on my own mixed-race (and queer) identity, drifting through this world of war and climate change but also on the smaller stories in a bigger world. 'Each sequence turns into a little postcard of the place and its people and the time you had together' (Bendik Grossmann, 2024).

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Landscape shots of Arctic scenery form the visual framework of this work, the Voice Over carefully interwoven with sounds composed by musicians partly of this area (subtly mixed with my own on-site field recordings).
 

This work looks at landscapes in transition, vital communities and possible different ways of dealing with our environments. It's a piece about (cultural) exchange, familiar positions but also transformations. I wanted to establish a personal connection to this distinctive Arctic region and the people who live there and create lasting relationships with a focus on sustainability also in respect to  (low impact, non-intrusive) filmmaking.

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The music was made by Anne Van Schothorst & Jeroen Van Vliet (NL), Louisa Palmi (Tromsø/NOR) and Wimme Saari (Finnish Sápmi).

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