In Churchill—self-proclaimed “polar bear capital of the world”—the presence of polar bears is both a tourist attraction and a safety risk. What was once a remote migration route has become a human-controlled zone filled with observation posts, vehicles and warning systems. Bears are monitored, tranquilized, tagged and, if necessary, held in a so-called “bear jail” before being airlifted elsewhere.

At its center is one bear forced to adapt his hunting behavior as sea ice forms later due to climate change and food becomes scarcer. The film follows his journey from Churchill to the predominantly Inuit community of Arviat, where the relationship between humans and animals takes on a different meaning. Awarded at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, this documentary expands on the short film of the same name by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman, showing how humans increasingly intervene in a habitat that has been home to polar bears for millennia.