People of a Feather

Filmmaker Joel Heath was tasked with researching the dropping population of the Eider bird in the Hudson Bay region of Canada. Essential to the survival of the Inuit people of the Bay, the disappearance of Eider bird populations is further evidence of the negative effects of hydroelectric dams used to power the eastern seaboard. Living amongst the native people, Heath worked inside a small box filming the birds as they dove for their food; he also witnessed the changing ice close in on a dying Eider population. Filmed over seven years, PEOPLE OF A FEATHER explores how damming has changed the water currents, thus changing the ice flows and migration patterns of the birds and fish. After centuries of hunting these lands, the local indigenous people of the Sanikiluaq community are in a fight for survival against modernization and human-caused climate change. With scenes of modern day Inuit hunting the lands juxtaposed with re-creations from their ancestors' traditions, this is an in-depth look into one our continent's oldest civilizations. A beautiful film with incredible shots of arctic wilderness, PEOPLE OF A FEATHER provides us with a perspective we may never see again. (In English and Inuktituk with subtitles) –T.W.