276:– a community surviving in a harsh land; a living, breathing, good-natured defiance of the elements; a frigid reminder of the necessity and futility of technology. It is also an examination of an elusive, fluid subject from different points of view. Essentially, the film is an accumulation of representations, or pictures of the lights, whether in language, photographic, or video images." (
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An intellectual travelogue, the film examines the gulf between the knowable and ineffable. It is a meditation on nature, technology and a visual postcard from a corner of the country few
Canadians ever get to see for themselves. Mettler used time-lapse photography to capture the dancing lights, and
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A five-member crew, including
Mettler, who appears in the film and provides the voice-over commentary, along with eccentric Swiss meteorologist, Andreas Zuest, who financed the film, camps out in a local motel run by a
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immigrant populated by an odd collection of rugged
Churchillian residents while they wait for the conditions to be right to capture the notoriously difficult lights on film.
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among other things, had to work in conditions so extreme, the camera had to be protected against temperatures dropping to minus 40 Celsius.
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Documentary Awards - Best
Writing, Best Cinematography, Best Film – Science, Technology & Environment
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Groen, Rick (May 24, 1996). "Hunting for Light on the Frozen Tundra (review)". Globe and Mail.
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McSorley, Tom (Winter 1995). "Paradox and Wonder: The Cinema of Peter
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on two trips in 1991 and again in 1992. It is one of the key films of the
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Bergman, Brian (June 3, 1996). "Images of Fire and Ice (review)".
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is a quintessential
Canadian portrait of a natural world
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is a 1994 Canada-Switzerland poetic documentary film by
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390:"Peter Mettler's 'Petropolis' And 'Picture Of Light'"
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396:. Berlin International Film Festival
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326:- Award for Excellence in the Arts
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581:Films directed by Peter Mettler
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571:Canadian documentary films
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324:Federal Office of Culture
232:Canadian/Swiss filmmaker
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63:Alexandra Rockingham Gill
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417:Take One: Film in Canada
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576:Swiss documentary films
236:'s goal of filming the
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517:Gambling, Gods and LSD
344:- Certificate of Merit
332:- Award for Excellence
566:Films set in Manitoba
302:Locarno Film Festival
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493:The Top of His Head
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338:- Golden Gate Award
218:Churchill, Manitoba
216:. It was filmed in
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158:Running time
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121:Jim O'Rourke
423:(7): 28–31.
274:in extremis
179:Switzerland
54:Produced by
36:Directed by
556:1994 films
550:Categories
349:References
246:Hudson Bay
162:83 minutes
46:Written by
16:1994 film
375:Maclean's
242:Churchill
201:$ 650,000
167:Countries
106:Mike Munn
96:Edited by
228:Synopsis
188:Language
118:Music by
71:Starring
400:May 24,
192:English
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536:(2012)
528:(2009)
520:(2002)
512:(1994)
504:(1992)
496:(1989)
284:Awards
198:Budget
174:Canada
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402:2017
146:1994
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