In the organizer's words:

MELT

AT 2024 - 125' - OmeU - Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter

Around two percent of the water on our planet covers the earth's surface when frozen. That is more than twice as much as is found in rivers, lakes and the atmosphere, i.e. the majority of our fresh water. Global warming threatens to dramatically shift these proportions. In his latest work, Nikolaus Geyrhalter finds opulent images of a world of ice and snow and at the same time evokes a vivid image of the imminent great melting.

From 2021 to 2025, he visited snow-covered landscapes in the north-western Japanese province of Niigata, the Swiss Aletsch Glacier and a village in the East Tyrolean mountains. In the Inuvik region of Canada, he learns that the roads are only passable during the frost period and only then can family celebrations be held. He observes how precisely drawn snow walls attract hundreds of onlookers in Toyama, Japan, and how the French ski resort of Val d'Isère tries to save itself with snow cannons. Everywhere Geyrhalter meets people whose lives are shaped by the forces of nature. And they all suspect that they could be the last generation to live with the beauty of ice and snow.

As part of the Stranger Than Fiction documentary film festival!