Word: finnmark
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...fishing port of Berlevag is about as far as you can get from anywhere, perching on the Barents Sea above the Arctic Circle in Finnmark, Norway's northernmost county. Despite the remote location and frozen terrain, Berlev?g has something to warm hearts across much of Europe - a 30-man amateur choral ensemble starring in a poignant and quirky film called Heftig & Begeistret, or Cool & Crazy...
...ever, Jensen's "documusical" has been lauded at numerous film festivals. One critic aptly dubbed it an Arctic version of Buena Vista Social Club, Wim Wenders' 1998 documentary about a legendary group of Cuban musicians. "The people up here don't take themselves too seriously," says Jensen, himself a Finnmark native. "The farther north you go in Norway, the more Latin the mentality...
...film begins in a distinctly un-Latin blizzard in Berlev?g, home to some 1,200 souls. On a headland facing the North Pole, the hardy ensemble solemnly belts out a robust ode to the forces of nature as icicles form on their whiskers. "Finnmark lad, you found your grave/Out on the awesome wave ..." Their songs are interspersed, as the seasons change, with glimpses into individual lives. The men - among them an agnostic church organist, a reformed drug addict and a bellicose communist - are kindly and ornery, childlike and cynical, flirty and stern. The camera lingers over small details...
Soviet forces frequently impinge on Norway, which constitutes the northern flank of NATO and is a key Western listening post for monitoring Russian military intentions. About three times a month, Soviet reconnaissance planes take aim at Norway's Finnmark province, which abuts Russia's Kola Peninsula with its strategic naval bases and 900,000-member complement of Communist ground and air forces. The spy planes turn back only when challenged by NATO interceptors. At least twice a year, large-scale Soviet naval exercises are held off the Norwegian coast. Soviet submarines, based at Murmansk, glide into Norway's deep fjords...
...impossible, not naked and bankrupt, but riding on a wave of prosperity. Last year the sky-high prices for lumber and pulp all over the world sparked an export boom that more than doubled Finland's gold reserves and gave her a whopping $135 million (31 billion Finnmark) trade surplus...