Norilsk is an impossible kind of place. In this arctic city, winter lasts for nine months and temperatures plummet to -60°C. Norilsk Nickel, the first worldwide producer of copper and nickel, has dominated life since the city rose from the ashes of the Soviet gulag. More than 180,000 people manage to survive in this closed-off city, isolated from the outside world. In looking at their extraordinary daily lives, this film paints a poetic portrait of an extreme city where everyone is looking for a way out.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
François-Xavier Destors is a director and author. Since his university years (political studies) in Paris, he has been exploring the challenges of representation and memories. In 2010, he published his first book devoted to the depiction of the genocide of the Tutsi of Rwanda in the cinema. Rwanda was also the location of his first first documentary, later selected at numerous festivals. He has written several historical and cultural documentaries. Since 2016, he has been in charge of editorial tasks and partnerships at Film Documentaire. Melting Souls is his second feature-length documentary.