Piql is excited to announce that the classic nowegian film Zero Kelvin (Kjærlighetens Kjøtere) has joined the growing collection of world memories in Arctic World Archive. This is a great example of nordic film, now restored and preserved for future generations.

The film starring Stellan Skarsgård, Bjørn Sundqvist, Gard Eidsvold and Camilla Martens was shown during Solfestuka festival in Longyearbyen on Friday 12 March, prior to its deposit into the secure vault.

Now a permenant part of world memory, the film sits alongside other classics such as Bicycle Thieves (Italy) and Oscar winning Ida (Poland), art collections from the National Museum of Norway, manuscripts from the Vatican Library, Nobel Prize winning literature among many others.

The film, now re-digitized and restored in 4K resolution, will soon be available for viewing in cinemas and streaming platforms.

The Plot

The year is 1925. Christiania has changed its name to Oslo. Lenin is dead, and the young author Henrik Larsen has just proposed to his girlfriend, Gertrud. She refused, at least for the moment. Adventurous Henrik signs up for a winter as a hunter in Greenland and leaves Gertrud behind.

During Henrik’s stay in Greenland, he encounters life’s extremities and harsh realities.

It is life in a remote cabin, together with the scientist Holm and the experienced hunter Randbæk. Randbæk despises Henrik and everything he believes in: love, literature and man’s free will. Randbæk does everything in his power to destroy Henrik, and his stay in Greenland eventually becomes a struggle to survive in the arctic wilderness.

Restoration and preservation

The restoration and re-digitization of the film has become a reality through a collaboration between Storyline Studios, the National Library, Piql and Filmparken.

“It is of course incredibly great to show the film to a new audience on Svalbard, where the film was shot 25 years ago,” says film director Hans Petter Moland. “The viewing has been made possible through a great deal of volunteer work. It’s almost mindblowing to think that the film also now preserved as part of our cultural heritage.”

Nina Heidenreich in Filmparken A/S has a big part of the credit for making this restoration possible. Torulf Henriksen and Gisle Tveito in Storyline Studios have worked hard on the re-digitization. Bent Bang – Hansen at the National Library and Bendik Bryde in Piql have also been major contributors to the process.

It has been a nostalgic reunion with the film I worked on 25 years ago, and it was crucial for this restoration that Storyline actually had the knowledge of the production methods from so far back.

Torulf Henriksen, Storyline Studios

It has been a very time-consuming work, and we have used a lot of resources to reach the goal. The fact that we have also had access to both a photographer and a director has helped to create a more precise result with regard to the original version.

Gisle Tveito, Storyline Studios

For Piql, it’s incredibly exciting to be able to be a part of this project, preserving an important and significant Norwegian film in the Arctic World Archive. With the end result of a recording from Svalbard 25 years ago now "coming home" and preserved for future generations in a safe vault on Svalbard, is a journey that we are proud to take part in and hope it can be an example for others who are concerned with preserving cultural heritage

Bendik Bryde, Piql AS

Zero Kelvin is one of the films in our collection that is most in requested, both in Norway and abroad. We are pleased to have collaborated with Hans Petter Moland on a digital restoration of the film, so that it can now be shown on Svalbard.

Lars Gaustad, Section Leader, National Library

There was no doubt that Filmparken should contribute to this fantastic project. Having the opportunity to make this great film available again now, and for the future - and not at least on this occasion, is fantastic. That so many of the original contributers have taken part is crucial to the expression. An important piece of work for our common Norwegian film heritage.

Nina Heidenreich, Filmparken.

Zero Kelvin premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September 1995, where it received the Jury’s Special Award. It received the Amanda Award in 1996. The film has been sold to a number of countries, including the United States, where it premiered in 1996.

Piql is excited to announce that the classic nowegian film Zero Kelvin (Kjærlighetens Kjøtere) has joined the growing collection of world memories in Arctic World Archive. This is a great example of nordic film, now restored and preserved for future generations.