NUISANCE BEAR Documentary

Screening to be followed by a conversation with directors, producers and cinematographers Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman.

As anthropogenic climate change and human expansion diminish the territory of polar bears, the apex predators increasingly enter populated areas — leading to dangerous confrontations. This is especially true in Churchill, a subarctic town in northern Manitoba known as the “Polar Bear Capital of the World,” where curious tourists can sate their urge to glimpse these Arctic beasts in the wild. While the tourists feast their eyes, the residents of Churchill must contend with the presence of an avinnaarjuk — a “nuisance bear” that has lost its fear of humans and must be sent to so-called “polar bear jail.” Filmmakers Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman expand their 2021 short into a feature-length documentary that deepens their soulful exploration of environmental stewardship, Indigenous rights, and the tensions between humans and wildlife. Working with six additional cinematographers, Osio Vanden and Weisman capture the snowy Arctic’s stark beauty through a combination of widescreen photography and incredible close-ups (massive ursine jaws and all). This beautiful imagery is further propelled by THE WHITE LOTUS composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer’s wonderful score and, crucially, Inuktitut narration by Mike Tunalaaq Gibbons, who reflects on his people’s relationship to the bears and his own encounter with the majestic yet deadly creatures. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, NUISANCE BEAR does not offer easy answers to the quandaries it explores but ultimately raises a poignant and eternal question: how can we humans learn to live in harmony with our fellow earthly creatures? –Javier Chavez