Tristan da Cunha News Abroad

Tristan Forever showing in Swiss cinemas and wins third award

Tristan Forever Update

Tristan Forever' wins Greenpeace's Lurra Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival This year's jury has highlighted the film by Tobias Nölle and Loran Bonnardot for being a fiction documentary that shows a way of inhabiting this world more sustainably and in community. The jury awarded Tristan Forever for being "a documentary that exposes us, like the protagonist, to a more sustainable way of life" and highlighted the luminosity when it comes to showing the inhabitants of the island of Tristan da Cunha: "The most remote inhabited island on the planet confronts us with our contradictions and our deep desires to live more in harmony with nature. And that, as you can see in the film, means living with what is necessary and in a community that supports each other."

Photo shows Actress Laia Costa presents the Greenpeace Lurra Award to  co-director Tobias Nölle and producer Christof Neracher, at San Sebastian Film Festival on 24th September 2026.

Cinema release in Switzerland Tristan Forever had its cinema release in Swiss cinemas on the 17th September 2026, including Zurich, Kino Riffraff, Aarau, Free Film, Basel, Stadtkino, Bern, Kino Rex, Brugg, Odeon, Frauenfeld, Cinema Luna, Liestal, Cinema Sputnik, Lucerne, Bourbaki, Meiringen, Meiringen Cinema, Romanshorn, Roxy, Schaffhausen, Scala, Schwyz, Cinema Schwyz, St. Gallen, Kinok, Thusis, Cinema Rhaetia, Uster, qtopia, Wädenswil, Schlos. Upcoming Film Festivals - San Sebastian Film Festival, Spain, From Sept 24 https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2026/sections_and_films/7/740488/in - Reykjavik, Int Film Festival, Iceland, Sept 24 - Oct 4 - Bogota Int Film Festival, Colombia, Oct 8 - 14 - La Roche-sur-Yon, France, Oct 12 - 18

Praise for Tristan Forever

The film's website https://www.tristanforever.com/Stimmen has a series of comments on the film:

"A captivating film full of unforgettable images!"
Dan Mecca - The Film Stage

"a great cinematic goosebump moment"
Michael Sennhauser

"once like an Edward Hopper painting, then again like one by William Turner"
Urs Bühler - NZZ

"An inspiring, masterfully staged docudrama."
Vladan Petkovic - Cineeuropa

"A simply magical experience. If you haven't fallen for Tristan da Cunha after 90 minutes, is  very hard-boiled."
Roland Meier - Outnow

"a touching work about longing, fantasy and the power of utopias"
Henriette Bornkamm - SRF

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A still from the film Tristan Forever
featuring lead actor Loran Bonnardot and a Northern Rockhopper Penguin.
Moulting rockhopers are frequently seen in the Tristan Settlement every year.

Laudation, Winner of the Main Prize for Best Director, Krakow International Film Festival

Through its unique cinematic vision and poetic, hybrid form, this film examines the inner conflict between a person and their imagined self, exploring the universal longing for home and identity. Pushing the boundaries of creative documentary cinema, the film – by virtue of its originality, sensitivity, and emotional depth – travels through time to reflect upon the relentless impatience of human nature in the face of societal expectations. For this outstanding artistic achievement, we award the Golden Horn to Tristan Forever.

Laudation, Winner for Best Cinematography, Schwerin International Film Festival

How do you show the intermediate world of magic and hard reality? Where is the balance to be found in this? The deep longing for community in solitude - how can images be found for an inner, consuming search? This film moves between reality, fiction and dream with precise, poetic images of a utopian distant place. They are cinematic paintings, sensitively captured light between day and night, inside and outside. The image design captivates with its mystical atmosphere and palpable haptics. The film asks existential questions about belonging and visualizes inner doubts: Does this place of longing exist or is it all just a dream? The prize for the best cinematography in documentary film goes to Tobias Nölle for Tristan Forever.

More on the Schwerin International Film Festival Tristan forever award:

Tobias Nölle won the award for Best Cinematography (Beste Bildgestaltung) in the Documentary Film Competition at the Schwerin Art of Film Festival (Filmkunstfest MV) for his work on the film Tristan Forever. The prize includes a €2,500 cash award funded by the Sparkasse Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Nölle, who also directed, wrote, and co-edited the highly praised documentary-fiction hybrid tracking a French doctor's journey to the isolated South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, noted during his acceptance that he planned to invest the prize money into his upcoming paternity leave.

See more about Tristan Forever on these pages:

Tristan Forever

Premiere at Berlin Film Festival

Golden Horn at Krakow Film Festival

Tristan Forever at Tristan Association 2027 Annual Gathering

Invitation to first South Atlantic Carol Service

Report and images from Tristan Government’s UK Representative Chris Carnegy

Be part of historic South Atlantic Carol Service this Christmas

St Etheldreda's Church, 14 Ely Place, London EC1N 6RY

Tristanians in the UK, and all friends of Tristan da Cunha, are alerted to the chance to be part of what promises to be a very special occasion in London this December.

The first-ever South Atlantic Carol Service will take place in the beautiful and historic St Ethelreda's Church in the City of London, at 6pm on Monday 7th December 2026. A traditional ecumenical service of lessons and carols, it will also incorporate special elements to celebrate the UK Overseas Territories of the South Atlantic.

The event is being organised by the UK Representative offices of Tristan da Cunha, St Helena and the Falkland Islands and the service will be conducted by Father Tom Thomas, who has visited Tristan and has oversight of these Territories for the Catholic Church. His church in London is a stunning location, and is the oldest Roman Catholic church in England. It's expected that a number of VIPs will attend.

Father Tom Thomas in front of St Joseph's Catholic Church on Tristan da Cunha

After the service, mulled wine and mince pies will be served in the 600-year old Crypt, which was the venue for a three-day wedding party for Henry VIII in 1531.

Numbers will be limited but we hope to include as many as possible of the UK's 'Tristan da Cunha family'.

If you'd like to attend, please email carols@tdc.uk.com by Friday 16th October 2026 to request a registration link.

Chief Islander welcomes new UK minister
Video link meeting on 5th August 2026 with overseas territories' elected leaders. 13-Aug-2026
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Chief Islander thanks UK minister for crisis help
On-Line meeting on the 16th July 2026 links Tristan with Westminster 17-Jul-2026
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Tristan sea safety prominent at Red Ensign Conference
Safety information and resources shared across the ocean at the 2026 conference in Bermuda. 5-Jul-2026
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Tristan Forever wins Golden Horn
International recognition at the 2026 Krakow Film Festival for Tristan film 16-Jun-2026
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Blue Belt celebrates ten years
Tristan's Marine Protection Zone central at London event on World Oceans Day 2026. 11-Jun-2026
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Joy as Tristanians arrive in Weymouth
The four Tristan islanders who were potentially exposed to Hantavirus on the MV Hondius have completed their isolation period in the UK. 7-Jun-2026
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Tristan prominent during Overseas Territories Day
Tristan Association Co-Chair and UK Respresentative attend prestigious London Overseas Territories Day events 2-Jun-2026
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