The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more
Skip to content Accessibility
My List
Your request could not be processed.
This film is already in your list
Subjects (65)
Environment and Conservation (50)

Arctic Plants and Wildlife (9)

  • Across Arctic Ungava
    Across Arctic Ungava
    1949 20 min
    This documentary follows four scientists and their Native guides into the unmapped wilderness of the Ungava Peninsula, in northern Quebec. Crossing this territory in large canoes, they collect samples of Arctic flora and rocks, take readings of soil temperature and record the correct bearings for rivers and lakes en route. The keen excitement of opening a new chapter in Canadian exploration is evident throughout the film.
  • Being Caribou
    Being Caribou
    Leanne Allison  &  Diana Wilson 2004 1 h 12 min
    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.
  • Climate on the Edge
    Climate on the Edge
    Alain Belhumeur  &  Jean Lemire 2003 52 min
    A documentary that gives scientific context to the controversy and debate on climate change. Accessible interviews with climatologists, glaciologists, astrophysicists and oceanographers, juxtaposed with stunning footage, bring understanding to the impact of the melting of the Arctic permafrost and release of greenhouses gases that affect our whole planet.
  • High Arctic: Life on the Land
    High Arctic: Life on the Land
    Dalton Muir 1958 21 min
    An ecological study of plant and animal life on the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Canadian Arctic. The film includes profiles of animals such as musk-oxen, lemmings, arctic hares and various forms of plant life.
  • In Search of the Bowhead Whale
    In Search of the Bowhead Whale
    Bill Mason 1974 49 min
    This adventure film features Scott McVay, an authority on whales, and filmmaker Bill Mason. The objective was to film the bowhead, a magnificent inhabitant of the cold Arctic seas brought to the edge of extinction by overfishing. With helicopter and Inuit guide, aqualungs and underwater cameras, the expedition searches out and meets the bowhead and beluga.

    Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused.
  • Islands of the Frozen Sea
    Islands of the Frozen Sea
    Dalton Muir ,  Hugh O'Connor , … 1958 29 min
    This short documentary offers a look at the life forms on the Queen Elizabeth Islands within the Arctic Circle. Even in this frigid zone of icebergs and glaciers a surprising variety of wildlife and vegetation is seen. Writings from the logbooks of early explorers provide vivid descriptions of scenes as arresting to them in their century as to today's explorer.
  • Life on Ice
    Life on Ice
    William Hansen 1986 27 min
    This documentary film focuses on the animal life that survives in this harsh arctic climates at the edge of the ice - from the simple algae to narwhals, polar bears, sea birds, seals, whales and walruses.
  • Lords of the Arctic
    Lords of the Arctic
    Caroline Underwood  &  Jean Lemire 2003 52 min
    This documentary by award-winning filmmaker Caroline Underwood focuses on Northern wildlife and its close and tragic relation to climate change, which affects all of the Arctic's fragile ecosystems. The example of the polar bear, studied by biologists for the past 20 years, is revealing. Scientists are also concerned about the precarious situation of bowhead whales and belugas, not to mention seals, walruses and many species of birds. Are the lords of the Arctic in danger of ending their reign over their kingdom of ice and snow?
  • People of the Ice
    People of the Ice
    Carlos Ferrand  &  Jean Lemire 2003 52 min
    This feature documentary explores the threats of global warming to the Arctic environment that has nurtured the Inuit for 4,000 years. The Inuit have lived in harmony on this frozen landscape for generations. Today, global warming threatens their habitat. As the ice disappears, so does the Inuit culture it is intimately connected to. Ever-changing temperatures have even made predicting the Arctic climate difficult. Will this extraordinarily resilient people be able to adjust to such dramatic change?

Explore