In Berlin-Bound ‘Tristan Forever,’ a Doctor, a Penguin, and 230 People Converge on a Volcanic Island — First Look

The Berlin Film Festival is upon us, with more than 200 films in all shapes, sizes, and forms coming to Germany from February 12 – 22. Unlike some of the other majors, Berlin is known for celebrating nonfiction filmmaking across its competition sections.

The Panorama section, bent around unconventional international fare, brings at least one docufiction standout to Berlin this month: “Tristan Forever.” It hails from the writing/directing team of Tobias Nölle and Loran Bonnardot, but is in fact about Bonnardot itself. IndieWire reveals the trailer and more exclusive details below.

For 30 years, Bonnardot, a doctor from Paris, maintained a friendship with a fisherman from Tristan da Cunha, known as the most isolated island in the world, deep out in the South Atlantic Ocean. The film follows Bonnardot on one last trek, and this time he hopes to stay there forever. But will the selective island council of just 230 people accept him?

“What drives a doctor from Paris to embrace such an isolated community, and what compels these islanders to live so removed from the outside world? I saw in Loran a castaway from our hyper-competitive society, seeking an authenticity we’ve lost, on an island secluded from our war-torn world; a dream I wanted to transform into a cinematic experience,” Nölle said in a press statement.

More about the film in the official synopsis courtesy of the Berlinale: “For 30 years, Loran Bonnardot, a doctor from Paris, has been visiting Tristan da Cunha, the world’s remotest inhabited island, in the middle of the South Atlantic. The volcanic island has become Loran’s spiritual refuge, its inhabitants his chosen family and the fisherman Martin his best friend. Now, at the age of 50, Loran takes the boat once more but this time he does not plan to return: he wants to become one of the 230 permanent residents — no easy endeavour since the island council will decide whether or not to accept him. Meanwhile, his friend Martin has his own point of view and Loran himself is confronted by his lifelong search for solitude. ‘Tristan Forever’ is a journey to a utopia far beyond the horizon. A film that pursues the question of where one’s soul belongs, oscillating between documentary, fiction and the dreams of its protagonist.”

“Tristan Forever” premieres Sunday, February 15, in the Berlin Film Festival‘s Panorama section. Watch the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below. Rediance is handling international sales as the film, which blends documentary and narrative, seeks worldwide distribution.