A look at a community in the most remote region of Russia, where the lives of the locals are linked to a food chain that involves creatures such as walruses and whales, where the harsh conditions impact on the quiet of the cemeteries or involve the appearance of a bear.
The title of the film refers to a disease, known as Arctic hysteria, which affects the people of the Far North, similar in its manifestations to shamanism. However, this word was created by observers from outside the region, does not exist in the local language and is often rejected, as is the concept of the disease, by the Chukchis, the indigenous people of this region near the Bering Sea in the Arctic Ocean. The film manages to convey this ambiguity to the viewer. The filmmakers observe the daily lives of the Chukchi people in extreme conditions. They don’t judge. They observe. The rituals, habits, traditions. The identity and breath of the Chukchi people. The strength, violence and intensity of the images and life we see is disturbing. We don’t know this world. The ambiguity passes to the viewer’s external gaze. (Carlos Ramos)
