Anaiyyun: NatGeo Short Films Showcase

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I’m happy to announce that my short film Anaiyyun: Prayer for the Whale is now in the National Geographic Short Films Showcase. This is the official online release of the film after a year of screening at film festivals around the world. Quyanaqpak to all my Iñupiaq friends that helped to make this film about their lives on the sea ice.

On the sea ice in northern Alaska, the Inupiat wait for the whales. The tradition spans 1,000 years, and a successful catch will feed an entire community for the winter. During whaling season, crew members spend their days watching the icy Arctic water for the right moment to strike. It will take courage and skill to achieve their mission, and they must avoid desperately hungry polar bears along the way. But in the long moments they stand on the ice, protected from the wind inside a fur-lined parka, a timeless gratitude develops. In those moments, the patient act of waiting transforms into a prayer for the whale. Anaiyyun: Prayer for the Whale,from filmmaker Kiliii Yüyan, tells the story of an Inupiat whaling crew that hunts where the vast plain of ice meets the waters of the Arctic Ocean.