North of the Sun

This 2012 Norwegian documentary follows two young men who settle in a remote cove above the Arctic Circle. Inge Wegge and Jørn Nyseth Ranum decide to spend the winter there, build a hut out of driftwood and live on food past its date. Their purpose is to surf, but the film's real subject is subsistence. Staying warm through the dark months, finding water and holding out against storms become problems in turn, and the pair also collect the plastic washing up on the shore. The two filmed it themselves; the camera does not belong to a crew looking in. The documentary therefore reads less as an adventure than as a diary, and the tone stays calm even in dangerous moments. Who it's for: those who like survival documentary and surf films. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a structured narrative; the film follows the course of the season.