Choreographies towards loss
60 min, experimental documentary, 2024
The great auk was the original penguin, but disappeared from the Earth in the mid-1800s.
Drawing a thread from past events to the ongoing biodiversity crisis, the film deals with loss. Stories and
observations are combined to give life to a species that will never return. In the process of making the film,
the filmmaker travelled around to meet various people and places with a connection to the extinct bird, from the
home of the author of The Great Auk in England to the old zoological museum in Copenhagen, where the
entrails of the last two great auks are kept in glass jars.
Cast
Ragna Sandvoll, Mira Stadt Wang, Jon Fjeldså, Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn,
Tim Birkhead, Mikkel Holger, Hilmar Malmquist, Gísli Pálsson, Katla Kjartansdóttir,
Errol Fuller, Ólöf Nordal and Sturla Magnússon
Written, directed and produced by
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn
Production company
Vidåpne Øyne
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn
Production company
Vidåpne Øyne
Cinematography
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn, Margo Peegel, Anton Kai,
Jens Alfred Raahauge
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn, Margo Peegel, Anton Kai,
Jens Alfred Raahauge
Sound
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn, Margo Peegel, Anton Kai
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn, Margo Peegel, Anton Kai
Editing
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn
Editing consultants
Maj Hasager, Margo Peegel, Joachim Koester
Script
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn
Camera assistance
Tone Marit Helle
Tone Marit Helle
Costumes
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn
Irene Margrethe Kaltenborn