The Weather War
2012
The Weather War is a documentary/art film about man’s attempts to control the weather and harness it for his own purposes. In a blend of land art performance and road movie, artist duo Bigert & Bergström travel to the US tornado belt with their special machine-sculpture, the Tornado Diverter. The goal is to stop a tornado.
The film also presents historical examples of how the science of meteorology developed in symbiosis with military goals, and how these visions evolved into modern ideas of geo-engineering—controversial ideas with sociopolitical consequences that spotlight the big question of who is really entitled to modified weather.
From a larger perspective, the film features the problems faced worldwide due to global climate change. How do we meet those challenges? Do we adapt? Or do we wage war against increasingly aggressive weather? Bangladesh is building protective walls against coming floods; China shoots rockets into threatening clouds; and in Italy, antihail cannons are fired to protect the year’s wine harvest.
This is the final film of the trilogy, which Bigert & Bergström have been working with since 2002, dealing with the human obsession with control. The subject of first film, The Last Supper (2005), is the last meal offered to the death row inmates prior their execution. The Life Extended, the second film from 2009, focuses on the contemporary dream of a longer, or even of an eternal life.
STILLS FROM THE FILM
Photos: Lars Siltberg
PROCESS PHOTOS
SCREENINGS / EXHIBITIONS
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2012 CPH:DOX, Copenhagen, 2012 Gothenburg International Film Festival, 2013 Planete Doc, Warsaw, 2013 CinemAmbiente, Turin, 2013 Docville International Film Festival, Leuven, 2013 Swedish Institute, Paris, 2013 Doclounge, Malmö, 2013 Barcelona International Environmental Film Festival, 2013 Hirschorn Museum, Washington, 2014 Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin, 2014 Summerhall, Edinburgh, 2014 21C Museum, Louisville, 2014 “Slow Future,” CCA, Warsaw, 2014 “Strange Weather,” Science Gallery, Dublin, 2014 Environmental Film Festival Melbourne, 2014 Documentary Film and Video Festival, Kassel, 2014 Växjö Konsthall, 2015 STUK, Leuven, 2016 Doc en Mai, Bordeaux, 2016 Power Station of Art, Shanghai, 2016 Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, 2017 Artipelag, Stockholm, 2017/2018 Rikstolvan, Järrestad, 2021 Civilizing Nature, Kalmar Konstmuseum, 2023 You Don’t Love Me, Yet - Contemporary Art Video From Sweden, Washington 2023 Moldox International Documentary Film Festival for Social Change, Cahul, Republic of Moldova, 2023 OVNi Festival, Villa Le Grimaldi, Nice, France, 2023 International Nature Film Festival, Vietnam, 2024 Sismògraf - Performance Festival, Olot, Spain, 2024
CREDITS "The Weather War," 2012 58 min. HD Written and directed by Bigert & Bergström Produced by Antonio Russo Merenda Cinematography Lars Siltberg Editing Kristofer Nordin Original music OCSID Carl Michael von Hausswolff Jean-Louis Huhta Edvard Graham Lewis Graphic design Björn Kusoffksy Stockholm Design Lab Costumes B&B Nina Sandström Digital effects, 3D On-Line Alphaville Additional cinematography Charlie Drevstam Sofia Olsson Studio
Technical manager Jens Lind Grading Jonas Jangvald The Chimney Pot Sound design and mix Thomas Huhn Ljudligan Research Malin Nordström Runner Bangladesh - Adnan Wahid Runner Italy - Alberto Berardo Runner Mid-West USA - Chelsea Turner Translations Åsa Sandzén Jordan Newhouse (subtitels) Jennifer Evans Special thanks Henric Larsson, The Chimney Pot, David Wilson & Paul Sturz, Nathaniel Taylor, KTH Edoardo Fracchia, Stefilm, Municipality of Barbaresco, Tove Torbiörnsson, Vera Bonnier The Weather War is produced by Ginestra Film, Antonio Russo Merenda in co-production with SVT/ Arts & Culture, Emelie Persson with the support of Swedish Film Institute, Cecilia Lidin, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Karolina Lidin, Nordvision in association with DR, Mette Heiberg YLE, Mary Gestrin. Developed with the support of: The MEDIA Programme of the European Community.
