Being Caribou

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Synopsis
Point Of View
Education

In this feature-length documentary, husband and wife team Karsten Heuer (wildlife biologist) and Leanne Allison (environmentalist) follow a herd of 120,000 caribou on foot across 1500 km of Arctic tundra. In following the herd's migration, the couple hopes to raise awareness of the threats to the caribou's survival. Along the way they brave Arctic weather, icy rivers, hordes of mosquitoes and a very hungry grizzly bear. Dramatic footage and video diaries combine to provide an intimate perspective of an epic expedition.

Katerina Cizek

Manifesto Point # 4: Work closely with the community partner, but respect each other’s expertise and independence. Some people have called my Filmmaker-in-Residence role as “embedded” in the hospital. I have serious concerns about the term “embedded,” especially in the context of journalists working within the confines of the U.S. army in the war in Iraq. But I can’t help but draw some parallel to the work of Leanne Allison and Karsten Heuer, who “embedded themselves” amongst a herd of migrating caribou in the film Being Caribou (2004), directed by Leanne Allison and Diana Wilson. In their efforts to understand the fragile yet resilient porcupine caribou, it’s pretty clear that all parties truly respected each other’s expertise and independence.

From the playlist : Manifesto for Interventionist Media - because Art is a Hammer