Tundra Book, The . A Tale of Vukvukai, the Little Rock
Russia 2011, 105min.
Producer: Aleksei Vakhrushev Director: Aleksei Vakhrushev Script: Aleksei Vakhrushev Director of Photography: Vyacheslav Makaryev Music: Chukchi folk Sound: Julia Trofimenko Editor: Julia Trofimenko
Production Company
High Latitudes ltd.
Sel`skokhozyaistvennaya Str. 11/3
129226, Moscow, Russia
It’s noon and -37C on Chukotka peninsula. A blistering wind slices across the tundra. In the magnificent landscape of Russia’s Arctic Circle, just across the Bering Strait from Alaska, 72-year-old patriarch Vukvukai leads his Indigenous Chukchi family in caring for their herd of 14,000 reindeer. Living in isolation except for their wind-up radio and occasional visits from traders, the family depends on their reindeer for food, shelter and clothing... The Tundra Book provides a rare and stunning glimpse into a world still intertwined with the oldest rhythms of life.
Awards
Best Documentary, Nike Awards by the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia, 2011; Best feature-length film, Critique Prize, The Prize of All Russian State Film Archive, All Russian Documentary Open FF "Russia", Yekaterinburg, 2011; Audience Prize, Main Prize in “Faces of Russia” nomination, All Russian Documentary FF "Meeting with Russia", Verkhoturye, 2011; Best Documentary, National Documentary and TV Award "Golden Laurel", 2011; Best Documentary, National Film Critics Award "White Elephant", 2011
Vakhrushev, Aleksei
Aleksei Vakhrushev (born 1969, Anadyr town, Chukotka, Russia)
Graduated from All Russian State Cinematography Institute (VGIK, Moscow), where he studied Direction, in 1996. Worked as a director and script writer at Film-M Studio, Moscow (1996 - 2000), at Ethno-Online Production Company, as Head of the Center of Audiovisual Anthropology of IEA RAS (PhD Dissertation on the Culture of Marine Mammal Hunting of Chukotka Peninsula Natives (Chukchi and Yupik Peoples), 2000 - 2008. Since 2008 he is the owner, producer, director and scriptwriter of High Latitudes ltd.
Filmography
Birds of Naukan (1996), The Island (2001), Chukotka’s Cossacks (2003), The Walrus Tusk Chronicles (2004), Hunters of Cold Shores (2005), Miracles Factory – Russian Animation (2005-2008, TV Series), Peoples of Russia – The Indigenous of Russian Federation (2006-2007, TV Series,), Welcome to Enurmino! (2008), Robert, Alla, Time…(2009), The Tundra Book. A Tale of Vukvukai, the Little Rock (2011).
Aleksei Vakhrushev (born 1969, Anadyr town, Chukotka, Russia)
