ÅF’s Lighting team creates magical light at northern latitudes

ÅF’s Lighting team and Dundret ski resort are lighting up the film competition Chasing Light in Gällivare. ÅF is contributing with expertise and helps create magical environments after sunset using electric lights.

Chasing Light is an annual film competition organised by Dundret ski resort, in which different teams film skiing and winter sports over a couple of weeks. The goal is to capture the enchanting light that can be seen when the sun is beginning to return to the northern latitudes. The winner will be the team who best seizes the light, the sensation and the skiing.

In connection with the competition, ÅF, together with Dundret ski resort, have invited students to take part in adding electrical light to this year’s competition. With the help from Kai Piippo, Chief Designer at ÅF, and Tobias Olsson, Lighting Designer at ÅF, the project will allow the teams competing in Chasing Light to illuminate the surrounding mountains so they can film skiing in cool lighting environments.

"We have students from Luleå Tekniska Universitet and Sverigefinska Folkhögskolan to assist us. They will work with 50 large hand-held luminaires equipped with light filters in different colours," says Kai Piippo. “They will also help the film teams rig up the lights they need to film their scenes.“
"One of our major challenges is the temperature which is now reaching minus 30 degrees. This is a very unusual working condition for us," says Piippo. “But we are braving the cold and hope to capture the polar lights along with our electric lights to create magical environments for the filming.”

In addition to contributing with ideas, knowledge and experience, ÅF will award the prize in the film competition category Best lighting. The prize will be awarded to the team that excels in thinking outside the box when it comes to lighting.

Click here to see last year's Chasing Light competition winner

Photo: Kai Piippo