Documenting the annual migration of the Porcupine caribou herd from the central Yukon to coastal Alaska and back, filmmakers Leanne Allison and Diana Wilson's Being Caribou raises an unspoken question of value vs. values: namely, are the substantial oil and gas deposits lying below the north shore of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) worth disturbing the unique habitat (including the calving grounds) and life cycle of the 100,000-strong caribou herd? Responding to a statement from President Bush inviting those critical of oil drilling in ANWR to visit the area themselves, Canadian newlyweds Allison (an environmentalist) and Karsten Heuer (a wildlife biologist) spent five months following and filming the caribou migration (in a piece of ongoing humor, the pair take along a Bush figurine that makes cameo appearances throughout). Although the question of drilling in ANWR is never far from the viewer's mind, the filmmakers spend very little time talking about it directly; instead, they simply show the impressive natural majesty of the herd in beautifully-shot intimate scenes as they follow the caribou on foot (and sometimes on skis) over the course of the 1,000-mile migration (the sight of the massive herd thundering along a mountainside is truly astounding). A beautiful, thought-provoking, bargain-priced documentary (a National Film Board of Canada production), the Gemini award-winning Being Caribou is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (C. Block)
Being Caribou
(2006) 72 min. DVD: $14.95. Mill Creek Entertainment (avail. from most distributors). Volume 23, Issue 1
Being Caribou
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