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| Foto: Ismaele Tortella, Artic Light |
I över tio år har den norske regissören och filmaren Asgeir Helgestad följt isbjörnshonan Frost och hennes ungar på Svalbard. Parallellt med dokumentationen av Frost har han också fångat ett Arktis som förändras snabbare än någon kan ana. Djurens förutsättningar förändras hastigt, och i dokumentären Frost Without Snow and Ice blir Frosts liv också en berättelse om vad som ger våra liv och vår planet värde – och om hur vårt sätt att leva påverkar både oss själva och djurlivet omkring oss.
Det är oerhört rörande att se isbjörnsmammans liv skildras och följa hur hennes ungar Snow och Ice växer upp. Livet får ett ansikte, men också människans girighet. Den 19:e och 20:e september visas filmen inom tävlan på Nordisk Panorama.
Idag pratar jag med Asgeir Helgestad om Frost, klimatförändringarna och vad han själv har lärt sig efter att ha följt hennes liv i mer än tio år.
- Already when I started filming Frost, in 2013, climate change had been on the agenda for several decades, but it was a discussion mostly between scientists and international organizations, gradually receiving more attention from mainstream media and the public. So for me the story about a rapidly changing Arctic was there before the story of Frost. I have been filming on Svalbard for 30 years and have witnessed dramatic changes first hand. However, when I met Frost, everything took a new turn - you cannot plan such a story. Climate change became not only very concrete, but also quite personal.
What do you remember from your first encounter with Frost, and what was it about her that made you want to keep following her?
- I remember everything, and I am usually not so good with my memory. It was the 7th of April 2013, and I was crossing a fjord on my snowmobile up on Svalbard.
The temperature was around -25 °C, but the ice on the fjord was so fresh that hardly any snow was on top of it. For that reason, I had to stop as the snowmobile got overheated and needed to cool down - and that’s when I saw her for the first time. A creamy white polar bear walking on the ice in the haze of the sun - in the far distance. And behind her I could now and then see two little cubs coming in and out of the haze.
- My first meeting with her was short, as I wanted to just leave her alone with her young, who had just come on the ice from their den. Three weeks later our paths crossed again, and that was when I gave her the name Frost. Polar bears are the biggest predators on land, even dangerous to humans – but what I saw there was something completely different. She was the most caring, playful and amazing mother I had ever seen in my life. She touched my heart in a way that I cannot explain.
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| Foto: Asgeir Helgestad / Artic Light |
You want the audience to experience the world from Frost’s perspective. How do you get close to an animal’s perspective without projecting too many human emotions or interpretations onto her?
- I think the most important thing is to spend enough time, observe, learn, and be open and curious. I am not pretending that I know what Frost is thinking, but I want to try and see the world from her position and share this with the audiences. Despite my limitations, I am trying to turn the camera towards us humans, and see what kinds of challenges she is facing. To achieve this, I need to be honest about my own subjectivity, my own assumptions, and allow others to reflect on them. For many years, humans, especially in Western societies, have been kept separate from the rest of nature. We have seen ourselves as radically different, but with this film, I would like to challenge this position. Are we as different as we’d like to think? And if not, how can we see the world from a more-than-human perspective? What would that mean for how we relate to the rest of nature?
Is there a particular scene in the film where you thought, "This is when I can really see how much the Arctic has changed"?
- There are several moments that for me capture the magnitude of changes on Svalbard. Who would have thought we would see whole hillsides collapsing as the permafrost melts? But what I often comment when I see the film is how much the glaciers have retreated. Places where I used to stand on ice to film, are now either open water or free of ice. It’s still shocking to realize how fast everything has changed.
Have there been moments when you had to put the camera down and simply watch what was happening in front of you?
- I have filmed so much on Svalbard, and especially the first years it was almost impossible to put the camera down or even sleep. I was enchanted by the light, the landscapes, the animals which are so trusting. But after a while, I became more relaxed, I wanted to enjoy being there, be present with my whole body and mind. At the same time, I had to remind myself that I had to keep filming, as in the moment when I met Frost bathing in the cold with Snow and Ice, when three more bears joined them. The whole scene was so extraordinary. I had never before experienced something similar. It lasted several hours, and I was there with them the whole time, filming and just unable to believe my eyes.
As sea ice disappears, polar bears are increasingly coming closer to human settlements. How did you want to portray that conflict without turning either the humans or the bears into the "villain"?
- For me there is no doubt about who has caused climate change, and who can take action to reverse both climate crisis and nature loss. Those who are most affected, whether humans or other animals, are often those who have contributed least to it. In this case, even if I don’t portray humans as villains, I am definitely on the side of the animals trying to survive in an ecosystem melting away. A cabin filled with food in the middle of the wilderness is attractive to polar bears, and I cannot blame them for taking advantage of such opportunities when food is limited. So I am not trying to achieve any kind of balance in a conflict that certain humans have created. However, what is important is that the audiences get to feel and think for themselves, and that we try to find solutions that go beyond conservation and build conditions for co-existence.
After ten years with Frost, do you feel you have learned more about polar bears or more about humans?
- I have certainly learned a lot about polar bears by witnessing unique behaviors and how these fantastic animals are trying to adapt to climate change as the clock is ticking. But I would also say that I have learned surprisingly much about humans, including myself. Through the years, I have seen beyond the beauty of Svalbard; I have seen the contrasts, and how humans have exploited this place for centuries. The time with Frost has made me reevaluate our place on earth. We cannot continue acting as if we are superior to the rest of nature, or this will be our own demise.
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