THE UNKNOWN, AND THOSE BOLD ENOUGH TO EXPLORE
Amka
DISCOVERING WHAT PULLS US TO EXPLORE, CONNECT, AND MAKE AN IMPACT
With Polar Explorer, Lonnie Dupre
Amka
One with a friendly spirit
The polar Inuit people make it seem easy to live in a place that otherwise appears inhospitable to us. Traditions that have been passed on for thousands of years. By dressing in furs and by forming a symbiosis with their sled dogs, they managed to live off the land, completely in tune with their environment of ice and snow. These people are not run by a clock; they do things when the time seems right.
– Lonnie Dupre
With Polar Explorer Lonnie Dupre
It has been 21 years since Lonnie Dupre and John Hoelscher completed the first and only circumnavigation of Greenland, a 5,000-mile non-motorized journey completed by dog team and kayak.
In 2022, Dupre went back to Northwest Greenland to film the polar Inuit culture, traveling from village to village by dog team. Dupre reconnected with his past polar Inuit friends to find out how their culture has changed due to global warming over the last two decades.
The polar Inuit and their sled dogs are unsung heroes of countless Arctic expeditions. Their ingenuity and innovation through trial and error and creative ways of improvising have always amazed Dupre on past expeditions.
Dupre was frightened by how drastically global warming had affected the land and culture. Permafrost melting is undermining the foundations of houses. Ice caps and glaciers have receded so much that new maps are required to identify the distorted coastline. Sea ice in the Inglefield Fjord that was once 7 feet thick in mid-winter is now 18 inches. At this current rate of melting, the fjord will be ice free in 7 to 10 years. In the mountainous and ice cap terrain, the Inuit rely on sea ice to travel between villages and for hunting. Once gone, the Inuit will become landlocked, held prisoners in their own villages unable to travel for eight months out of the year.
“Amka” is the Inuktun word for “one with a friendly spirit.” This 40-minute film dives into the inner thoughts of the Inuit hunters and polar explorers amidst change: their passions, the inseparability with their sled dogs, the fragility of Greenland, and the humble people that carved out special lives in a land of snow and ice.
Through this documentary, we aim to introduce people to this little-known place of beauty called Greenland and its culture and make it dear in others’ hearts too.
FILM DETAILS
The Amka film was produced by Lonnie Dupre. Directed and filmed by Eva Capozzola with additional cinematography by Josefin Kuschela.
Supported by Rolex as part of its Perpetual Planet Initiative.
For more information and updates: LonnieDupre.com, kendalmountainfestival.com
"IN THE MOUNTAINOUS AND ICE CAP TERRAIN, THE INUIT RELY ON SEA ICE TO TRAVEL BETWEEN VILLAGES AND FOR HUNTING."
