Synopsis
The mining town of Norilsk sits in the heart of the Siberian Arctic, huddled behind its wind walls and bathed in the smoke and sulfur of its factories. While teenagers in the icy city dream of exile and nickel miners ponder the lost Soviet comradeship, descendants of Gulag prisoners and theatre artists seek to shed light on Norilsk’s dark past, buried under ice and censorship. A Moon of Nickel and Ice fondly follows the lives of these inhabitants of the end of the world.
A word from Tënk
The intense pollution camouflages the sun's rays. Like the snow that is omnipresent in this city in the north of the cold, the dust from the mine gets everywhere, including into the lungs of the 200,000 inhabitants, dreaming of fleeing this place.
Yes, Norilsk is a city in Siberia whose only reason to exist is mining. However, in this universe of icy desolation, the colorful characters seem to belong to the last centuries. What follows is a fascinating dreamlike experience.
Jacob's intimate film, which won an award at the Toronto Hot Docs, is driven by the duty to remember.
Christian Mathieu Fournier
Filmmaker
Presented in collaboration with
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