Growing up in Alaska…beauty, yet restlessness in isolation.
Enter the secluded and hidden wonder of Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the USA. Largely inhabited by descendants of its original Native Alaskan tribe, the Barrow community holds tight to the traditions and pastimes of their ancestors. However, ever-increasing globalization threatens the livelihood of its endangered native culture – most pressingly, among the younger generation. Children of the Arctic follows five Iñupiat teens on the brink of adulthood as they grapple with the obligation to preserve their vanishing heritage and the tempting prospect of greater opportunity elsewhere. Director Nick Brandestini takes us inside the isolated world of the Alaskan frontier whose unique indigenous hunting and whaling traditions reveal a place desperately worth preserving. - Vivian Yuen