How to Pick Berries

The camera is floating somewhere above the clouds. We see an endless white plain, and a light blue glow far away on the horizon. Then we gradually begin our descent. Puffs of white glide by until we are inside a thick cumulus layer. In the background we hear a futuristic ambient soundscape. It seems like the beginning of a science fiction film in which invaders from outer space set foot on planet Earth. In this case, the invaders are looking for the blueberries that grow in the summer in the extreme north of Finnish Lapland. The local population has little patience for the colonizers, who have taken over their favorite places to pick. In the words of one grouchy old man, "A woman from the village had been gathering cloudberries, and she almost literally banged heads with someone from Thailand." The invaders are seasonal workers, flown in from their subtropical beach paradises to the icy area above the polar circle. What starts out looking like science fiction is really a contemporary parable about worldwide labor migration, and the often complex integration issues that result from it. The indigenous inhabitants seem to have to adapt more to the foreigners than the other way around. This daring thesis documentary stresses the strange side of globalization with tight, angular shots, a diverse color pallet, and an alienating soundtrack.