“Through Darkness”, Melissa Brandner/Manuela Mandl, Norway, 2019, 20min

In Northern Norway, above the Arctic Circle, five young people, some local, some visitors, are out in the mountains during the polar night. Their attention to the dark is curious, their perception focused on the immediate surroundings, and their field of view is narrowed along with the length of day. Everyday life becomes a challenge, one's own rhythm changes.

This story takes the audience on a journey through darkness, showing what we need in order to overcome the difficulties that we face as individuals. Visually the team of pro snowboarders including Manuela Mandl (Freeride World Champion 2018), Melissa Brandner, Erik Verlo, Krister Koppola and Hampus Cederholm, navigate their way through steep exposed avalanche terrain, searching for the perfect line under the glow of the northern lights.

Although we often perceive darkness simply as the absence of light…. Can it creep into our lives in another form? Can we really understand the fullness of life when we are buried in a crisis? Do we in fact need darkness, in order to recognise the brightness of light?