About movie

Itelmen Stories

Original title Itelmeeni lood

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The action in the film revolves around an ancestrally used practice of hunting sable by net. Set in rural Kamchatka in the Russian Far East, where fewer than 20 speakers of Itelmen remain, the film goes beyond its original aim to recapture a language and a hunting practice that are remembered but no longer in use. Two hunters encounter the wild environs and villages of Kamchatka as a history laden homeland and memories, nostalgia, resignation and hope echo throughout the film.

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Author/s Liivo Niglas

Liivo Niglas, born in Estonia in 1970 is currently a lecturer of ethnology at University of Tartu, Estonia. He also runs an independent production company, Mp Doc, for anthropological documentary films. He has made films in Siberia, Africa, Central Asia and North America. His films have won numerous awards including „Prix IUCN“ (2004) at the Vison du Reel in Switzerland,“Golden Olive“ at the Kalamatha International Documentary Film Festival in Greece, “Grand Prix” at the International Ethnological Film Festival in Serbia, „First Prize“ at the Matsalu International Nature Film Festival in Estonia. Some of his work are „The Brigade“ (2000), „Yuri Vella\’s World“(2003), „Adventure High“ (2004), „Making Rain“ (2007), “Itelmen Stories” (2010).

Research David Koester
Photography Liivo Niglas
Sound Liivo iIglas
Editing Liivo Niglas, Marju Juhkum