This Cold Life

2017· 88 min★ 8.3· Documentary

Welcome to Longyearbyen, the only settlement in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Situated 300 miles from the North Pole, where polar bears outnumber humans, and bearing the distinction of being the northernmost town in the world, Longyearbyen is a community with an unforgiving climate, dreary isolation and an uncertain economic future. Like many small towns, Longyearbyen was once a bustling industrial hub that’s now struggling to find innovative ways to sustain itself. This Cold Life is filmmaker Darren Mann’s visually stunning portrait that illuminates a tight-knit group of colourful and resourceful residents who are dedicated to preserving the land they call home. Through charming individual reflections, including two men who fought to change a law to establish a brewery and become the town’s only export, we experience what it’s like to live in unity for our neighbours’ well-being.

Director: Darren Mann