Tristan Forever
Tobias Nölle, Loran Bonnardot
Time stands still on Tristan da Cunha – the remotest inhabited island in the world. Everybody knows everybody, there are rarely any surprises or new people. There is, however, Loran Bonnardot: Over the years, the Parisian doctor became close friends with one of the fishermen and has now decided to move to Tristan for good. But first, he has to be accepted by the close-knit community. He hones his skills in the art of solitude, becomes friends with a penguin and, between carvings and flirtations, he slowly finds his place on Tristan. Then, something unexpected happens on this enchanted volcano in the middle of nowhere.
The long journey on the ship from Cape Town to Tristan, the lonely evenings, the infinite sea stretching in all cardinal directions – Tristan Forever is a true excercise in patience that steadily develops a hypnotising pull. What begins as a documentary soon becomes absurd, philosophical, existential, even fictional?
Director Tobias Nölle embarks on a filmic experiment. With perseverance and minimal technical and narrative means, he creates a story that blurs the lines of fiction and documentary in the island's fog.
2 May 2026
20:30 h, Kino des DFF
More information
| Direction | Tobias Nölle, Loran Bonnardot |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Production year | 2026 |
| Duration | 90 min |
| Language | English, French |
| Language Version | OV with German Subs |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Production | Christof Neracher |
| Production company | hugofilm features |
| Distribution | Rediance |
| Cast | Loran Bonnardot, Martin Green, Glenda Rogers |
| Director of Photography | Tobias Nölle |
| Script | Tobias Nölle, Loran Bonnardot |
| Montage | Tobias Nölle, Aurora Vögeli |
| Sound | Linus Rieser |
| Music | Michael Sauter |
| Sound Design | Oscar van Hoogevest |
Berlinale 2026: FIPRESCI AWARD
About the director
Tobias Nölle is a Swiss director. From 2000 to 2004, he studied at the School of Visual Arts, New York. His short film René (2007) won the Golden Leopard in Locarno, his feature film debut Aloys (2016) the FIPRESCI prize at the Berlinale. He is the co-founder of the Swiss filmmaker collective 8horses. He lives and works in Zürich and Berlin. His latest film Tristan Forever (2026) premiered this year at the Berlinale in the section "Panorama".
Press reviews
"The island itself is spectacular, with lush foliage covering the sides of the volcano, which is often shrouded in fog, providing for captivating images. [...] It is an isolated paradise, and a challenging one to stay in, which is elegantly reflected in the lightly varying, atmospheric score by Michael Sauter. All this makes Tristan Forever a thought-provoking piece of docufiction cinema and a masterfully crafted picture." (Vladan Petkovic for cineuropa)
"There are unforgettable frames throughout [...] that underline the uniqueness of Tristan da Cunha. At one point in the film somebody comments that they cannot really believe the island exists. [...] It’s this quite existential journey that makes Tristan Forever a compelling film. Likely most of us hope there is some perfect place where everything makes sense to us. It’s as aspirational as it is irrational." (Dan Mecca for The Film Stage)
International Feature Film Program
