About the arctic documentary Almost an Island — ALMOST AN ISLAND

ALMOST AN ISLAND is a cinematic portrait of the Goodwins, an Inupiaq family living above the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, Alaska.

Through observing three generations of one family over the course of four years, ALMOST AN ISLAND explores what it means to be indigenous in the dramatically changing Arctic.

Alaska Native.jpg — A central theme of Almost an Island is the transference of traditional Inupiaq knowledge and cultural practices from one generation to the next.

Caribout Hunting.jpg — Climate change is one of the biggest threats to traditional knowledge. Subsistence-based cultures have always dealt with environmental fluctuations, and Inupiaq hunters are astute observers of animal cycles and weather patterns. But the rapid change brought on by our current climate crisis is unlike anything people have previously experienced.

How do indigenous communities cope with the burden of knowing their resources may be on the brink of extinction? How does it feel to realize that one might be the last to know a given subsistence skill, or to practice a way of life?

These questions are always present in Almost an Island, but they are not foregrounded in the film. No one can think about this all the time. Life goes on: children are born, there are feasts of caribou and salmon, there are snow machine rides on glorious winter days. Even in the midst of uncertainty, there is so much to celebrate.

Alaska Traditions.jpg