Documentary film Dear Arctic shows why arctic research is vital

17.08.2023

Documentary film Dear Arctic follows the researchers of the Arctic region and delves into the work of the Arctic Center in the University of Lapland.

– More people should know what is happening in the
Arctic and why the world’s interest is focused there, says Vilma
Rimpelä, one of the producers and directors of the film Dear
Arctic.

Johannes Roviomaa,
film’s screenwriter and visiting researcher at the Arctic Centre strongly
agrees.

– Right now we need to turn our focus and attention
to the world’s attic, and look for answers to seemingly impossible questions. What
happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay there.

War in
Ukraine has frozen Arctic cooperation in Russia, which has the majority of the
Arctic region within its borders. Finnish Arctic anthropologists still maintain
connections with local communities, as critically important research work must
continue. The first part of the film Dear Arctic dives into the work of researchers
Florian Stammler and Aytalina
Ivanova who are doing arctic anthropology in Siberia, in the lands of
reindeer herders and fishermen.

Greenland’s
continental glacier is called the heart of the earth, the heartbeat of which has
become increasingly uneven due to the melting of the glacier. Researchers
John Moore and Ilona
Mettiäinen work within the Grisco project with a goal to build
undersea curtains near the Greenland glacier to slow down warm seawater reaching the
glacier. At best, the project could slow down the melting of the glacier and the
rise of the sea level, which in turn would reduce the amount of climate refugees in
the future. However, there is a lot of critical discussion around climate repair,
and in the film the researchers consider the future of the project and how to
finance their important research work.

– Things are not
worse than they were before. Our eyes have only focused on these problems for the
first time, says researcher Marjo Lindroth. Lindroth
works together with colleague Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen
on Critical Arctic Research. At the end film Dear Arctic delves into how power has
influenced what issues we want to study and where Arctic research should focus in
the future.

The Dear Arctic documentary is produced by RARE
Media from Tampere and journalist Johannes Roviomaa. The production team comes
outside the film industry. Through the documentary, the filmmakers want to increase
the awareness of the Arctic, especially among the young audience.

– One of the goals of the production is to produce content that is easily
accessible to young people. We are really happy that we made it into
Koulukino’s content, which brings us even closer to our target audience, says
Orna Ben Lulu, one of the film’s producers.

FALL 2023 Screenings for Dear
Arctic:

31.8. // Helsinki // Preview, Arctic
Momentum, Kino Orion, 10PM
14.9. // Rovaniemi // Premiere, Kulttuuritalo
Wiljami, 6PM
14.9. // Helsinki // Love and Anarchy Film Festival (HIFF)
side event, Puistokatu 2kr, 6PM
20.9. // Tampere // Tullikamarin Klubi,
7PM
13.11. // Rovaniemi // Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit TBA

Document follows the work of the
researchs for example in Rovaniemi and Iceland.