Friday October 16 at 6 PM
Saturday October 24 at 12 PM
A feature length adaptation of Gabriela Osio Vanden & Jack Weisman’s Oscar-shortlisted short film of the same name, Nuisance Bear smartly expands to become about something so much deeper than its initial premise. Yes, it’s a film about polar bears wandering into Manitoba cities, and the logistical problems that arise with keeping the populace safe from nature’s fiercest apex predator. But it’s also a film about colonialism, and the development of Western civilization pushing out the original inhabitants and deeming them a nuisance for being in the way.
Containing exceptionally beautiful footage of polar bears in their natural habitat, clashing with the cities and towns that have sprouted up on the tundra, Nuisance Bear works exceptionally well on the level of a nature documentary, the likes of which could be narrated by David Attenborough. But the film goes so much deeper than Planet Earth ever could; with narration from indigenous elders, Nuisance Bear links together the plight of the polar bear with the theft of indigenous land and seeks to find answers about the possibilities of reconciliation within a modern Canada.
