Inuit Filmmaker's New film, talking to Elders.

Aclaimed Nunavut filmmaker Zachrias Kunuk, know for "The Fast Runner" and "The Journals of Knud Rasmussen has just released a new film that takes a completely different view of climate change. He actually interviews Inuit elders, who have lived on (and off) the land their entire lives. These elders who in their own words, without the problems of translation describe the changes that they have seen in their environments over the decades. Everything from changing snow and ice patterns, relative quantity of animals, salinity of the sea water etc. What Kunuk has done is actually sit and listen to people who have lived through decades of industrialization and change in the arctic, something that climate scientists don't really do, as the stories that are told are anecdotal.

This is all done without editorial comment, just letting the elders tell their stories. I confess I haven't seen it, but I have read a review in the Global and Mail 10/20/10.

New documentary recounts bizarre climate changes seen by Inuit elders - The Globe and Mail

CBC Radio's "The Current" did a extended interview with Kunuk on Friday 10/22/10 that was very interesting and can be streamed.

The Current

For too long, I have suggested that folks that live in the mid-latitudes would do well to spend some time in the high latitudes to gain some real world understanding of what life is like for those that live there, and how it is changing, and is likely to change. Absent a chance to visit the high arctic, I suggest at least reading the linked article and radio interview. I am sure the film will become available on DVD at some point, as I am sure it won't get too much wide circulation.

Icarus