BRINGING SCIENCE TO FILM

On Saturday,

April 26, 2014 at 8 p.m., at the Woods Hole Community Hall, 68 Water

Street, Woods Hole, the Woods Hole Film Festival presents a special screening
of the multi-award winning feature documentary film PEOPLE OF A FEATHER by Joel
Heath as the first film in a new film series, Bringing Science To The Screen.

Supported in part by a grant from the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod

and the Falmouth Community Fund, the series Bringing Science To The Screen will
present films that incorporate science into the story, whether documentary or
narrative. Scientists will be invited to discuss the science represented in the
films.

Tickets are $10 and are available in advance online at www.woodsholefilmfestival.org or at the door.  For
more information call (508) 495-3456or email info@woodsholefilmfestival.org

Featuring stunning footage from seven winters in the Arctic, the

92-minute PEOPLE OF A FEATHER takes the viewer through time into the world of

the Inuit on the Belcher Islands in Canada's Hudson Bay. Connecting past,

present and future is a unique relationship with the eider duck. Eider down,

the warmest feather in the world, allows both Inuit and bird to survive harsh

Arctic winters. Traditional life is juxtaposed with modern challenges as both

Inuit and eiders confront changing sea ice and ocean currents disrupted by the

massive hydroelectric dams powering New York and eastern North America.

Inspired by Inuit ingenuity and the technology of a simple feather, the film is

a call to action to implement energy solutions that work with nature.

About 1500 islands make up the Belcher Islands archipelago in

eastern Hudson Bay. Most of the islands are uninhabited by humans. The islands’

800 residents reside in Sanikiluaq, located on Flaherty Island. Even today, the

Inuit rely on the fish, seals and birds available on and near the islands. The

Arctic eider duck has played an important role in the community. Strong

currents around the islands in the winter create ice-free areas, called

polynyas. These areas of open water allow the eiders to diver for urchins and

mussels on the sea floor. Instead of migrating south, these ducks stay through

the winter.  They are an

important source of both food and clothing for the Inuit.

About the filmmaker

Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Joel Heath has long nurtured

passion for both arts and science. A leading Canadian ecologist, Joel worked in

Sanikiluaq, Nunavut studying effects of climate change on Arctic sea ice

ecology. For his Ph.D. Joel worked with Inuit, developing time lapse monitoring

technology and an underwater camera system to capture the world’s first images of eiders diving below the sea ice. This led to Joel’s involvement in BBC’s Planet Earth: Ice Worlds and Frozen Planet. Joel led one of Canada’s largest International Polar Year outreach projects. His research was published as the cover story in Proceedings of the Royal Society. During his time in the Arctic, Joel listened to the Inuit tell stories of a troubled future due to neighboring hydroelectric dams. To help share these stories Joel collaborated with the community of Sanikiluaq to found Sanikiluaq Running Pictures and began a five-year process to create this film.  In creating the film, Joes used time-lapse photography to better understand how ice forms and moves.  Below the ices, Joel captured the first images of eider ducks diving to the ocean floor to feed.  Together these approaches reveal a dynamic, ever-changing landscape that reveals mysteries and beauty of the Arctic sea ice.