A Local Story of Global Significance
Newtok is not supposed to survive. Forces far stronger than the people who call it home are lining up against the town; winter storms grow more fierce each year and steal more of the coastline; summer meltwaters surge down the Ninglick river and erode the edges of the town; global warming, felt more keenly this far north, is melting the permafrost on which the town is built. This is the local story with global significance. Three hundred and seventy five American citizens call Newtok their home, for now. The first house is scheduled to fall into the river in the fall of 2018, if not before. The plan is to abandon the town, and start again 9 miles up the river on higher, more solid ground. The community is divided between those determined to stay, and those equally determined to move. They are fighting the weather, the indifference of state agencies and now, finally, each other.
Losing Alaska premiered at IDFA in Amsterdam in November 2018. It has since made appearances at Goteborg Film Festival in Sweden and Millennium Film Festival in Belgium, DokFest Munich, Human Rights Nights in Bologna, Saratov Sufferings Festival in Russia, Docs Ireland in Belfast amongst others. In late 2019 it will screen at Raindance in London and at the Jean Rouch Documentary Festival at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris.
The film is directed by Tom Burke, produced by Jessie Fisk and Alan Maher with an original score by Gerry Horan. Sound design by Steve Fanagan and colour by Dave Hughes. Executive producer for Screen Ireland is Celine Haddad.
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Trailer 2 - featuring Bob Dylan
