Nanook of the North

For her Director’s Choice, the Brazilian filmmaker Paula Gaitán juxtaposes her homage to the green bounty of the Amazon , the wintry forests of New England and the indigenous populations of the two Americas in LUZ NOS TRÓPICOSwith the endless white expanses of NANOOK OF THE NORTH (USA 1922). The footage for Robert J. Flaherty's dramatizing and at times romanticizing depiction of the everyday of the Inuit Nanook and his family was taken in northern Canada. In this Arctic setting, Nanook hunts for walruses and seals, builds an igloo, fights the cold. Combining documentary and scenes (re)staged after the loss of the original footage, Flaherty's dynamic camera simultaneously sketches the harshness of life in the Hudson Bay region as well as the beauty of the icy landscape. (bik)