One of the main outputs of the ILLUQ project is a documentary film on the consequences of permafrost thaw in Arctic Canada, Greenland and Svalbard. This documentary is developed together with local stake- and rightsholders and its goal is to chronicle the different perspectives and urgency related to permafrost thaw.
The documentary is produced by GRID-Arendal, a non-profit environmental communications centre in Norway and filmed and edited by Olivia Rempel.
Plot
Currently, approximately 5 million people live on permafrost in Arctic Canada, Alaska, northern Scandinavia, Russian north, Svalbard and Greenland.
Climate models predict that the number of people living in permafrost settlements in the Arctic will decline dramatically to 1.7 million by 2050, because the permafrost underlying many communities will thaw and disappear. In fact, it is estimated that up to almost a half of current permafrost settlements will be permafrost-free by mid-century.
This documentary aims at depicting the ways in which the lives of people now living on permafrost are changing and what adaptation and mitigation options are available to them in these, many times, remote communities.
fieldwork in Inuvik, northwest territories, canada summer 2024
The work on collecting material and interviews for the documentary started on summer 2024 in and around Inuvik, in Northwest Territories in Canada. Olivia travelled with Susanna Gartler, an anthropologist working on cultural ecosystem services, to the region to talk to people living in communities where permafrost thaw is changing the reality in accelerating speed.
