A blanket of white stretches as far as the eyes can see. In this icy terrain of Kautokeino in Norway stands a lone cabin; inside, a man wipes snow off the window and settles down to coffee with his daughter. A Sami reindeer herder, he’s lived here all his life. “Time is of little importance while observing reindeer,” the two remark. They look at the sun and gauge the time.
A still showing a settlement in Norway.
Copenhagen-based filmmaker Boris Benjamin Bertram’s documentary The Human Shelter is about what makes a home. It can be anywhere and anything, from the icy expanses of Norway to refugee shelters in Iraq; a Mars-like habitat set up by Nasa to a treehouse in Kampala, Uganda; a six-square-metre capsule in Tokyo to houses on stilts in Lagos, Nigeria.
A still from The Human Shelter shows a scientist outside the Mars-like habitat in Hawaii, established by NASA.
The film traverses four continents and 11 countries, focusing on people living on the edge. “I wanted to make a film that could make people think and rethink what makes a home for them,” Bertram says.
Home from nothing
In the last four years, Bertram travelled to conflict zones in Iraq, Kurdistan and Africa for his film on the Danish war photographer Jan Grarup.
“On these journeys, I filmed refugees and people in motion, making a home out of next to nothing. And during extreme circumstances the body itself is the first shelter we lean on,” says Bertram.
As he travelled and filmed, Bertram asked questions: When does a refugee camp in Iraq become a home? What can a Sami reindeer herder teach the modern human about the concept of time? What would a home on Mars look like?
In the Arctic circle in Finnmark, where Bertram and his crew filmed, it was so cold the sound cables froze and broke. “But I found a feeling of belonging. I felt at home experiencing our Scandinavian origins,” he says.
He recalls filming refugees fleeing Mosul. A teenage girl came up to him, says Bertram, “She was holding a notebook to her chest that read ‘My name is Suhad, I am a poet and I want to be in your film.’” Bertram posed the question he had been asking all the participants in the film — What makes a home? The next day she returned with a poem she had written titled ‘Home’.
In The Human Shelter, a refugee treasures his 85,000-dinar business suit. He hopes to wear it to work some day. In another tent, women have lined the insides with fabric that reminds them of their old home.
Changing perceptions
During the making of the film, Bertram says his perception of home changed. “If you look at the anthropological notion of home, it’s about materials and objects (a house, four windows and a door) social relations (family, friends and neighbours) and our reflections about home (stories about home traditions). I also added the human body as a dimension to the notion of home. The role of nature is also important,” he explains.
Another still showing a settlement in Lagos, Nigeria.
Bertram, who has lived in Copenhagen all his life, says, “Denmark is a country of small islands. I feel connected to the sea. I swim in the sea all year, even during winter. We call it a Viking Bath. It makes me feel at home.”
The documentary will be screened later this year at Design Museum, London, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
sangeethadevi.k@thehindu.co.in
