BEING CARIBOU

Lands prime for natural gas drilling are also the age-old maternity ward of the caribou. The intersection of Arctic geography, natural resource politics and the preservation of some of the most oddly elegant land mammals anywhere is explored in BEING CARIBOU.

Filmed over the course of five months, this Ansel Adams-in-color documentary captures breathtaking images of the northernmost part of the United States and the Canadian border. Devoid of the stylizing of many nature films, these stark, poetic images compel you to follow husband and wife naturalists/environmentalists Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison as they follow a herd of 120,000 caribou on foot across 1500 kilometers of rugged Arctic tundra. These are not the caribou of NORTHERN EXPOSURE--they don't have handlers. They are the genuine article, traveling one of the longest migrations of any land mammal.

The filmmakers endure an undeterred stalking bear and the hunting of the caribou by man and beast. They witness the loss of many caribou calves to predators and distracted mothers. The sheer grit required to make such a statement in support of caribou survival and protection is impressive.

For their own amusement, and that of the viewer, the filmmakers take George W. Bush along as their mascot.

Michele R. Brown

Leanne Allison's journey with the caribou is not her first expedition of this kind--in 1998, she hiked 3400 kilometers from Yellowstone to the Yukon to highlight the need for wildlife corridors in the Rocky Mountains. She was also part of the first all-women's expedition to the top of Canada's highes peak, Mt. Logan. An emerging filmmaker, Leanne previously worked with glaciologists and avalanche scientists in Antarctica and British Columbia's Cariboo Mountains. BEING CARIBOU is her first feature-length film.

Diana Wilson is an independent producer and director whose previous documentary credits include producing and co-writing 100% WOMAN and co-producing the Leo-Award winning CULTUREJAM: HIJACKING COMMERCIAL CULTURE. Wilson is currently producing her first dramatic short, KATHLEEN'S CLOSET, and also teaches part-time at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School. BEING CARIBOU is her first feature-length film as a director.

Sponsored by the Canadian Embassy.

Print Source:
Lucie Charbonneau, National Film Board of Canada
3155 Cote de Liesse Road
Ville St-Laurent, QC H4N2N4
Canada
Tel: 514.283.9806
Email: l.charbonneau@nfb.ca

PRECEDED BY...GETTING THROUGH TO THE PRESIDENT
Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler
USA, 2004, 7 minutes

A payphone becomes a medium for providing the White House with comments from average citizens, who are encouraged by the filmmakers to mouth off.

Print Source:
Emily Kunstler, Documentary Campaign
92 Gates Avenue_#3F
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Tel: 7186360988
Fax: 718-636-0939
Email: emily@off-center.com

Saturday 6/18 at 1:00 p.m.

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