The Whale from Lorino

Lorino is one of the coldest places on earth and the nearest city is a few hundred kilometers away. Despite the condtitions, there is a functioning school and a community center. The forty-year old electric plant is at its full blast. There are a few open shops that sell the most basic of products. A helicopter brings supplies if the conditions allow it.
In the film we will take a close look at this place and its people from the perspective of a young boy. He likes to spend time with his grandfather, who remembers the days when there was nothing on the shore, but huts made from the giant bones of whales. The only inhabitants back then where Chukchi hunters. The grandfather’s wish is to pass as much of his dying knowledge as he can. His son never listened to him, and wanted to assimilate to Russians. Today he drinks.
When winter gets milder, the villagers meet to prepare for whale hunt. They sail to the Island of Ytagran, a mysterious place where their ancestors prayed for successful hunts between thousand-year old whale remains. The hunt still looks very much like it did a few hundred years ago.
The majority of the Lorino population are indigenous people, ruined and tired men, who have lost their jobs in now inactive mines. They sit and wait or try to learn some of their old traditions and bring them back to life and free themselves from the regional economy and Russia. True hunting skills must also be learned. They are returning to prayers and rituals too. Unfortunately, it is a long process and it is not known if the Chukchis will survive in their natural habitat.