Film essay, 4K. 20 min.
When the filmmaker’s childhood school in a small northern village in Norway was bought by Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink programme, the event sparked reflections on what is at stake as rapidly evolving digital technology infiltrates all aspects of human life. - A film essay on communication, resilience, and local communities in the age of Tech Giants – explored from a personal and rural perspective.
The film intertwines a personal narrative about SpaceX’s intrusion into the home village with existential reflections on attachment, freedom, nostalgia, and progress. It explores dilemmas regarding place, resistance, digital technology, and bodily experience.
Central to this exploration is perspective, as well as the sensory dimension of sound: the hum of digital infrastructure, the laughter of children, and the rythm of weather and nature. The film asks: what is the sound of a vibrant place?
Big Tech Blues offers a local view on the digital industry’s subtle encroachment into rural areas in Northern Norway and beyond. It highlights the complex relationships people have with their environments – highlighting the double bind of digital technology and the significance of embodied experience for memory and attachment.
Written, produced and directed by Elisabeth Brun
Director of photography & co-producer: Eivind H. Natvig
Music: Alexander Rishaug
Postproduction: Truels Zeiner-Henriksen
VFX: Peder Opland / SCREAM MEDIA
Supported by Fritt Ord, North Norwegian Film Centre/Arctic Films by Kalle Løchen and Rachel Andersen Gomez, Norwegian Film Institute - NFI
Reviews :
“ ..a poignant protest song against Big-Tech..” - Wallpaper Magazine
“..the film gives hope for the community´s ability to come together and resist..” - Billedkunst
“..ironically, it is a story of communication breakdown within the business of global communication networks..” - The Art Newspaper
“The story, which is beautifully and skillfully documented, captures the precarious tension between periphery and globalization. Most people would indeed prefer to be better connected, to be in contact more quickly, but at what cost? ... In an effective way, Big Tech Blues manages to comment on the complexity of human encounters with modern technology (industry)…”
- Sofie B. Ringstad, Stavanger Contemporary Art
“..a sensous documentary about collision - collision between tech giants and small rural communities, collision between visual forms of expression, collision in communication (...) one of the best documentaries in this years programme (at the Norwegian Short Film Festival).” - Thor Joachim Haga, Z-Filmtidsskrift
Festivals:
2025 – The Norwegian Short Film Festival (NO), Official Selection. World Premiere.
Art and Work-in-progress:
2025 - Barents Spektakel, Kirkenes (NO) - Panel screening, Work in progress.
2024 – Lofoten International Art Festival (LIAF) (NO) – “Gnistsambandet / Sparks” - Curated exhibition screening, Work in Progress (Sept–Oct)
2024 – Festspillutstillingen / LIAF collaboration, Galleri Nord-Norge, Harstad (NO) - Curated exhibition screening, Work in Progress (June)
2024 – Vesterålen Film Festival VÅFF, Strengelvåg skole / Stokmarknes Kino (NO) - Work in Progress presentation (Nov)
Image credits: film still Big Tech Blues / Eivind H. Natvig, Kjell Ove Storvik/LIAF