The Island and The Whales
classified 12A SPlease note: This was screened in April 2018
Traditions come under threat from environmental and health concerns in this thought-provoking and breathtakingly beautiful ethnographic documentary about the remote whaling community of the Faroe Islands.
In their remote home in the North Atlantic the Faroe Islanders have always eaten what nature could provide. Hunting whales and seabirds has kept them alive for generations and given them the way of life they love; a life they would pass on through the generations. But today that tradition faces a grave threat. However, it’s not just controversy surrounding the ethics of whaling that threatens the Faroese way of life. The danger is also coming from the whales themselves. Among the first to feel the effects of our ever more polluted oceans, the Faroese have discovered that their beloved whales are toxic, contaminated by the outside world. What once secured their survival now endangers their children meaning the Islanders must now make a choice between health and tradition.
Jaw-dropping in its visual splendour and intimate in its observation, this is an enveloping look at a community whose centuries-old way of life may be ending.