EcoGeek of the Week:The Directors of Arctic Tale


Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson have been filming the arctic for more
than twenty years. Now, for the first time, they’re telling a story of their own. Arcitc Tale will be hitting theaters next month and is
expected to draw huge crowds of all ages. Adam and Sarah were kind
enough to talk with me last week to give me some insights on this
marvelous new film. I’m proud to have them as this week’s EcoGeek(s) of
the Week.

Arctic Tale is a coming of age story about a polar bear cub
and a walrus calf. The story of these characters lives over three years is
constructed from Sarah and Adam’s footage and decades of experience. But whereas the villain in The March of the Penguins
was a noble albatross, Arctic Tale’s villain is much more sinister: climate change.

As our protagonists grow, they discover that the lessons
taught to them by their parents are becoming less and less applicable
in this new warm world.

Sarah says that she sees the film as more than education,
but also more than activism. The film makers obviously see a lesson that must be learned here…and an EcoGeeky lesson at that.

As Nanu the bear and Seela the walrus encounter new and difficult
situations, they learn, adapt and change in order to survive. Sarah
tells me that we, as humans, will be required to do the exact same
thing in this changing world. The moral, in short, is that we aren’t
quite dead yet, and just like walruses and polar bears, we’re going to
have to change, make some difficult decisions, and even go against
tradition to make it out alive.

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