Award-Winning Film, The Tundra Book at Toronto's Hot Docs

Screenshot: The Tundra Book. A Tale of Vukvukai, the Little Rock. by Aleksei Vakhrushev, High Latitudes ltd., 2011

A co-presentation of KinoArt Festival and Hot Docs

Canadian International Documentary Festival, April 26 - May 6, 2012, Toronto

Credit: hotdocs.ca + highlatitudes.ru + kinoartfestival.com

Please mark your calendars and get ready for the best showcase of documentary films in Toronto this year! Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market, returns for its 19th annual edition from April 26 to May 6, 2012. Showcasing the best in Canadian and international documentary, Hot Docs will welcome filmmakers, industry delegates and audiences to Toronto for the 11-day event. This year’s Festival will screen 189 amazing docs from 51 countries.

World Showcase: Canadian Premiere

The Tundra Book: A Tale of Vukvukai, the Little Rock
A stunning documentary about the lives of the seldom-seen Chukchi people.

Director: Aleksei Vakhrushev
Producers: Aleksei Vakhrushev, Olga Savelyeva
Cinematographer: Vyacheslav Makaryev
Editor: Julia Trofimenko
Official Website: Film Studio "High Latitudes Ltd"
Russia, 2011, 105 min
Language: Chukchi Russian with English subtitles

Stunning photography and sensitive direction captures the fascinating culture of Indigenous reindeer herders and their struggle for survival in Russia's Arctic Circle, one of the harshest, and most beautiful, environments in the world.

Director's Biography
Alexey Vakhrushev was born in 1969 in Anadyr' (Chukotka). In 1996 graduated from VGIK (Institute of Cinematography). Since 2000 is a director and scriptwright at the TV Company "Ethno-Online". Member of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.
Selected filmography: 1996 Birds of Naukan, 2001 Island, 2003 Treasure of Semen Dezhnev, 2004 Walrus Fang Chronicle, 2005 Hunters of Freezing Coasts, 2005–2007 People of the Bering Strait; Chuvan Treasure; Bone Coast of the North; Mist Travellers; Heirs of Taymyr Shamans; Images of Time, 2005–2008 Miracle Factory; Welcome to Enurmino!

Screenings:
Sunday, Apr 29, 6:00 PM
TIFF Bell Lightbox 4

Tuesday, May 1, 1:00 PM
TIFF Bell Lightbox 4

It’s noon and -37C on Chukotka peninsula. A blistering wind slices across the tundra. In the magnificent landscape of Russia’s Arctic Circle, just across the Bering Strait from Alaska, 72-year-old patriarch Vukvukai leads his Indigenous Chukchi family in caring for their herd of 14,000 reindeer. Living in isolation except for their wind-up two-way radio and occasional visits from traders in tank-like snow vehicles, the family depends on their reindeer for food, shelter and clothing. Through the seasons, unflagging Vukvukai alternates between chuckling and barking orders at his sons and grandchildren, instilling in them the practical knowledge and spiritual traditions that have allowed the Chuckchi to survive for thousands of years in one of the harshest environments in the world. Subtly directed by Aleksei Vakrushev, an award-winning Inuk filmmaker from Chukotka, The Tundra Book provides a rare and stunning glimpse into a world still intertwined with the oldest rhythms of life.
Gisèle Gordon

Subjects : Eastern European & Russian Cultures Issues, Indigenous Cultures & Issues, Animals
Hot Docs Trailer: THE TUNDRA BOOK. A TALE OF VUKVUKAI, THE LITTLE ROCK.
Co-presented with KinoArt Festival.

2012 Hot Docs Tickets
Individual tickets to Hot Docs 2012 are $14.50. Tickets to all Late-night screenings (screenings after 11 pm) are $5.
Tickets can be purchased online here.

Courtesy of Scotiabank Students (with valid ID) and seniors (60+) can attend daytime screenings (screenings before 6 pm) for free. Same-day tickets are available at the participating venue one hour before the first screening of the day, subject to availability.

To view the full 2012 Hot Docs schedule and list of films, click here.

HOT DOCS MEDIA KIT 2012http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Enjoy and mark your calendar now for Hot Docs' showcase of global stories. See you there!

youtube.com: "The Tundra Book" Trailer
Uploaded by HighLatitudesLTD on Jan 16, 2012

"The Tundra Book. A Tale of Vukvukai, the Little Rock"
Feature Length Documentary by Aleksei Vakhrushev (2011, Russia, 105 min)

72 years have passed as deer herder Vukvukai lives in the depths of Chukotka. He is an old man full of energy and wisdom -- The Real Man of Tundra whose life can not be seen apart from the deer.
His people take care of a huge herd -- over 14,000 deer. Their life is a non-stop struggle for survival and well-being in the most harsh weather conditions of Chaun-Chukotka. They deeply believe in the strength of tradition and so succeed in their struggle. The ancient culture of Nomadic Chukchi takes care of them, so they preserve and follow it. As far as it is now -- their realm remains stable. This is the Truth of Vukvukai.

Produced by High Latitudes ltd. (2011) with financial support of
Nonprofit organization "Social development foundation "KUPOL"
The Russian Ministry of Culture
All Roads Film Project (National Geographic Society)
Credit: HighLatitudesLTD

hotdocs e-bulletin: Box Office Update: More Films Going Rush

Screenshot: hotdocs e-bulletin:
Box Office Update: Three More Films Go Rush
Credit: Hot Docs | Daily : E-bulletin

Tickets are going fast, and many screenings have already gone rush, including MARLEY, CHASING ICE and THE TUNDRA BOOK. A TALE OF VUKVUKAI, THE LITTLE ROCK.

Don't wait to get your tickets and passes.

Purchases can be made online, by phone at 416.637.5150, or in person at the documentary Box Office located at 783 Bathurst Street, Toronto.