Being Caribou

Being Caribou
Directed by	Leanne Allison Diana Wilson
Written by	Leanne Allison Diana Wilson
Produced by	Tracey Friesen
Starring	Leanne Allison Karsten Heuer
Edited by	Janice Brown
Music by	Dennis Burke
Distributed by	National Film Board of Canada
Release date	June 2, 2005 (2005-06-02)
Running time	72 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

Being Caribou is a 2005 documentary film that chronicles the travels of husband and wife Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison following the migration of the Porcupine caribou herd, in order to explore the Arctic Refuge drilling controversy. The journey lasted 5 months, starting from the community of Old Crow, Yukon on April 8, 2003 and ending on September 8, 2003. The film is produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Karsten Heuer documented this trek with Leanne Allison, which was also their honeymoon, in his book Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd. The book was published in 2005.

Plot

Allison, an environmentalist, and Heuer, a wildlife biologist, follow a herd of 120,000 caribou on foot, across 1,500 kilometres (900 Miles) of Arctic tundra, in order to raise awareness of threats to the caribou's survival. At stake is the herd's delicate habitat, which is threatened by proposed petroleum and natural gas development in the herd's calving grounds in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Awards

Winner of approximately 20 awards and honours, including a Gemini Award and Most Popular Canadian Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

See also

• Oil on Ice

External links

• Being Caribou at IMDb
• Watch Being Caribou at NFB.ca
• Leanne Allison and Karsten Heuer's Web site