Harstad Kino, sal 1
Would you like to join us for a trip to the shore?
SMILE AND WAVE is a film essay about a tidal landscape in Vesterålen, Northern Norway. Can you say something about life by portraying a place? Can one understand more about oneself by considering one's passions? Flood water and memories are mixed together in the story about the vulnerability of life and what remains when something is gone. At Nordahlstranda (a beach) in Bø in Vesterålen, you can wade for hours and find treasures. The sea mouse is such a treasure. It is magical and secret, thinner than an eggshell and as vulnerable as you and me.
A film about how nature activates our memories and our curiosity. Ebb and flow around the clock, throughout life. A slow breath that never ends. As if death did not exist. In a universe of waving angels and skeletons, a story about a life emerges. Curiosity led to a French marine biologist/film artist, to the fragile and secretive sea mice and to a father.
“SMILE and WAVE is poetic and personal magic. Walking on the shore will never be the same again. An adventure of a movie.” Ola Bremnes Musician/author
"A pearl. A light in the dark. Of course this had to be our opening film.” Espen Nomedal, programme manager TIFF
HONORABLE REVIEW from the Dokfilmfestivalen in Volda:
This film has a poetic, subtle and probing voice. Slow and close observations of details in nature, at first appear random, but are subsequently woven together as pieces in a narrative about the broad lines of a lived life and in the history of man and nature. In this room, big questions get a place, such as: who are you and why did you become this way?
"As a viewer, I get to be with a grown woman who explores, with wisdom and childishness. The film is beautifully photographed and has a pace and a lingering calm, which stands out in contemporary times. The waves on the shore in Vesterålen can lower anyone's heart rate." Linn Solid Madsen, reviewer in Nordlys
Documentary 57 min. Genre: Personal Film Essay.
Producer: RAMPELYS AS, Sortland
Script, director, photo: Eva Ch. Nilsen
Distribution: Rampelys
Language: Norwegian. English subtitles.