Turf War in No Man's Land
Director Suvi Andrea Helminen
Countries Denmark
Duration 68 min
Synopsis
Five countries - Denmark via Greenland, Canada, Russia, U.S.A. and Norway - are trying to make claims to the Arctic Ocean’s underground and its natural resources. It is said that up to 25% of the world’s oil and gas resources are trapped beneath the ice. Borders have to be drawn. A Danish expedition sets out aboard a Swedish icebreaker into the ice-covered Arctic Ocean surrounding the North Pole. They will collect data to prove to the UN that the resource-rich underground is an extension of Greenland. The barrier of ice separating us from the treasure is melting, because of global warming. Denmark, Canada and Russia have overlapping interests in the Lomonosov Ridge, our destination. In spite of this conflict of interest, the Danish expedition is depending on assistance from a Russian nuclear icebreaker “50 years of Victory” – the worlds most powerful. It is to open a path in front of us because the ice north of Greenland is extremely thick and harsh. For the same reason no icebreaker has ever been in the area before. One week before departure, Russians plant a flag on the seabed at the point of the North Pole – a big international news story. That puts a bit of tension on the planned cooperation. We meet the Russians in the big, white nothingness and the only other signature in their guest book before our captain’s is Putin’s. With a subtle humorous tone we experience the two icebreakers’ journey together and a tainted cultural meeting at the top of the world. “Turf War in No Man’s Land” follows the course of events on this particular expedition aboard the icebreaker Oden and explores the point of view of several characters. The expedition in many regards turns out to be a failure in regard to the Danish objectives: due to the ice-thickness, expensive equipment is lost and torn apart, data gathered is scarce and furthermore the Russians for unclear reasons had to leave before the contract ran out. The expedition footage is interspersed with intermediate sequences consisting of Skype interviews putting it into a political context. The interview are with Helge Sander, Danish minister of Science; Artur Tjilingarov, member of the Russian parliament - who also dove down and planted the flag on the North Pole - and Tatiana Saksina of the WWF Arctic Programme.
Five countries - Denmark via Greenland, Canada, Russia, U.S.A. and Norway - are trying to make claims to the Arctic Ocean’s underground and its natural resources. It is said that up to 25% of the world’s oil and gas resources are trapped beneath the ice. Borders have to be drawn. A Danish expedition sets out aboard a Swedish icebreaker into the ice-covered Arctic Ocean surrounding the North Pole. They will collect data to prove to the UN that the resource-rich underground is an extension of Greenland. The barrier of ice separating us from the treasure is melting, because of global warming. Denmark, Canada and Russia have overlapping interests in the Lomonosov Ridge, our destination. In spite of this conflict of interest, the Danish expedition is depending on assistance from a Russian nuclear icebreaker “50 years of Victory” – the worlds most powerful. It is to open a path in front of us because the ice north of Greenland is extremely thick and harsh. For the same reason no icebreaker has ever been in the area before. One week before departure, Russians plant a flag on the seabed at the point of the North Pole – a big international news story. That puts a bit of tension on the planned cooperation. We meet the Russians in the big, white nothingness and the only other signature in their guest book before our captain’s is Putin’s. With a subtle humorous tone we experience the two icebreakers’ journey together and a tainted cultural meeting at the top of the world. “Turf War in No Man’s Land” follows the course of events on this particular expedition aboard the icebreaker Oden and explores the point of view of several characters. The expedition in many regards turns out to be a failure in regard to the Danish objectives: due to the ice-thickness, expensive equipment is lost and torn apart, data gathered is scarce and furthermore the Russians for unclear reasons had to leave before the contract ran out. The expedition footage is interspersed with intermediate sequences consisting of Skype interviews putting it into a political context. The interview are with Helge Sander, Danish minister of Science; Artur Tjilingarov, member of the Russian parliament - who also dove down and planted the flag on the North Pole - and Tatiana Saksina of the WWF Arctic Programme.