The Book of the Sea

Synopsis

An intimate look inside day-to-day life on the frozen fringe of the Bering Strait in Russia, home to the Inuit and Chukchi. We follow community leader Alexei, his wife Galya (a nurse) and their son Igor from season to season in this frigid, harsh land. Like their ancestors, their community still survive by hunting marine mammals, but today they must navigate hunting quotas, endemic alcoholism, and the tricky balance between tradition and the modern world. With compelling verite footage woven with animated sequences that represent ancient myth, The Book of the Sea is a vivid account of a struggle for survival, and preservation of a traditional lifestyle in one of the most remote places on earth.