ARCTIC DISCOVERY...
Since their first journey in 2015, SEDNA's members have completely been hocked by Arctic's wonders. After several expeditions to the polar circle, SEDNA has filmed its unique wildlife and communities, willing to understand and document how they're facing current climatic and social changes. This unique region of the world is shifting at a frenetic rate, are their inhabitants going to be able to keep up the pace?
... ABOVE AND BENEATH THE SURFACE
On this first expedition in 2015, SEDNA filmed for Laurent Marie's (freediver passionated by the Arctic) project: show the inuit community what's below the arctic ocean's surface by teaching them how to freedive. The other main goal of the expedition was to get footage of the shy narwal, thanks to inuit's knowledge of their biology and behavior.
L'AME BLEUe
SEDNA has been part of Under The Pole III, sailing and diving in Greenland and through the historical NW Passage for 4 months. The goal of the expedition was to study the biofluerecence and the bioluminescence of marine Arctic fauna, and explore the depths of this poorly known Ocean. SEDNA's members got aerial, terrestrial and underwater footage for the expedition's webdoc and film "Lights Under the Arctic", from Vincent Perazzio. Quite a challenging shooting considering the magnetic anomalies (driving the drone crazy), the water at -1° and the instability of a boat as a platform for filming polar bears with a 400mm lens... Nothing we cannot deal with!
A (still) LIVING CULTURE
The inuit community has an extremely rich music, danse, storytelling and handcraft culture. A couple of generations ago, when they were still a nomadic nation, they spent long winters in the shelter of their igloo exchanging knowledge about their environment, telling stories of their ancestors, playing at their traditional throat singing game or carving seal bones for jewelry and sculptures. This is how their culture lived and prevailed throughout generations.
This culture and knowledge was so precious that women traditionally tattooed the history of their family and ancestors on their faces, as a sign of gratitude for everything they have teach them. Without all their knowledge, inuits wouldn't be able to survive to their land's extreme weather conditions. Thousands of years of experience, passed on from parents to children ensure that.
However, new generations struggle to maintain such rich, deeply held traditions, as they adapt to contemporary realities and fight for their rights.
SEDNA aims to document inuit's traditions and current lifestyle, in order to raise awareness of the dire straights this isolated nation is going through.
UNIQUE Wildlife
Arctic's wildlife is the result of millions of years of evolution. Just the most adapted beings are able to survive to such extreme weather conditions, compete for food and give birth to new generations. However, their unique characteristics are also the main cause of their risk of disparition in an everyday warmer world... How are they going to deal with climate change?
We find more and more examples of incredible adaptations of arctic species to fast changing environmental conditions. New behaviors, new interactions, new stories. Arctic wildlife shows us its capacity of facing such an unstable climate...
Is there still hope for the Frozen World?