As the world northernmost city, Norilsk is an impossible kind of place. In this Arctic city, winter lasts for nine months and temperatures plummet to -50°C. Norilsk Nickel, the first worldwide producer of copper and nickel, has dominated life since the city rose from the ashes of the Soviet gulag. More than 180,000 people manage to survive in this closed-off city isolated from the outside world. In looking at their extraordinary daily lives, this film paints a poetic portrait of an extreme city where everyone is looking for a way out.