Working without a Net in Barentsburg

I'm here and things are underway at the Northern Traveling Film Festival in Barentsburg. Divas demanding red carpets and vegan backstage catering need not apply.

Getting the word out is trickier than hoped since the only internet access I've found is the office computer at the Barentsburg Hotel, which takes some arranging to use since the office is locked most of the time. This is a rush greeting, to be followed by in-depth postings as access is available.

(And it turns out the hotel's system doesn't work either, so this is being sent during a fleeting moment of connect time I have at the science center here.)

The group is smaller than I expected, maybe a dozen core people involved in organizing, making the films being shown and various culture/history/science presentations. There were perhaps 40 people at the opening reception and screening Saturday night, a lot of them local dignitaries, again a surprise since I figured a fair number of the town's residents would show up for the novelty.

Since then it's been the core group at various screenings, tours and a day trip to Pyramiden on Monday where they didn't watch films so much as trample them. All this and more will be detailed when Icepeople returns to Longyearbyen on Friday.