The TIFF: a crossroads of cultures

An acronym appears in the streets of the city: T.I.F.F., for "Tromsø International Film Festival". Created in 1991, the festival quickly established itself as the most important in Norway. Each year, the event attracts the equivalent of the population of the Tromsø agglomeration. Norwegian and overseas film lovers meet here and enjoy short and feature films screened in five cinemas and one outdoor cinema.

The productions compete in very eclectic categories. We are not beyond the 66th parallel for nothing. A whole section is reserved for Nordic films covering the Barents region as well as other Arctic territories. This festival then appears as a real promotional challenge for Arctic culture. As stated in the Arctic Human Development Report, the result of Nordic cooperation involving Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland, "the production, marketing and consumption of Nordic art seems to be a growing market. "Similarly, the rise of film festivals in the Arctic is a recent phenomenon, according to the same report. To qualify in this category, the production or director must have a strong connection to the northern territories. These documentaries and films very often refer to the daily lives of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Reindeer Island, a documentary directed by Fridtjof Kjaereng, recounts Reiulf's daily life. This Norwegian wants to acquire his own reindeer herd but, because of his origin, he is prohibited from this profession. The films on offer are as many opportunities to discover a little more about this remote region with its unknown populations. This festival is an opportunity to introduce visitors to Nordic art and production. As tourists, we discover a true Nordic "soft power".

TIFF: the encounter between Nordic cultures and the rest of the world. The official poster of the festival invites you to meet cultures. We can guess a silhouette, erected with an oriental veil and a Brazilian band. The face is that of a reindeer, an animal emblematic of Sami culture. The body is represented by colours that refer to indigenous beliefs. While this festival promotes northern cultures, it also presents productions from other countries. Two sections in particular caught our attention. These are "Brazil" and "Arabiyat". South American and Arab cultures seem to be in the spotlight this year. "Arabiyat" is the continuation of a program initiated in Tangier dedicated to the women of the Arab world and is intended to be "dedicated to the encounter". The "Brazil" category highlights the country's political, economic and societal trends. One of the blockbusters in this category is Neighboring sounds by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho. This feature film depicts the lives of residents of a working-class neighborhood in Recife. These examples illustrate the Arctic's openness to geographically distant issues.

Films from the "Brazil" section on political, economic and societal issues. (https://tiff.no/en/program#taxonomy-term-1479)

This cultural mix presented at TIFF raises questions about Arctic identities and culture. If identity is seen as continuously constructed and not as an unchanging category, it is not surprising that Arctic identity is reinventing itself. The meeting between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, and the significant immigration to Tromsø (about 15% of the population of the agglomeration, a figure slightly above the national average of 14%) contribute to its evolution. The Arctic seems determined to promote traditional Nordic culture and asserts its soft power. But it is also open to cultural productions from remote territories, which constitutes a form of geographical opening up and marks a desire to be part of cultural globalization.

References :

• Nymand Larsen, Joan, éditeur. Arctic Human Development Report: Regional Processes and Global Linkages. Nordic Council of Ministers, 2014

• « Tromsø International Film Festival ». Tromsø International Film Festival, https://tiff.no/en. Consulté le 26 janvier 2019.