A RITE OF PASSAGE LEADS AN INUIT BOY ACROSS A FROZEN WORLD IN THE LIVING EDENS - ARCTIC OASIS: CANADA'S SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND, A SPECIAL NATURE PRESENTATION, DECEMBER 21 ON PBS
A teenage Inuit boy learns the survival skills of his ancestors on a coming-of-age journey over a brutal Arctic landscape in "The Living Edens - Arctic Oasis: Canada's Southampton Island," a special presentation of the NATURE series, premiering Sunday, December 21 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).
NATURE, television's longest-running weekly natural history series, is produced for PBS by Thirteen/WNET New York.
Noah Kadlak is determined that his 13-year-old son Logan will know the skills and traditions that have helped his people meet the challenges of survival in the harsh winters of far northern Canada. Together they journey across their homeland on Southampton Island in Hudson Bay, heading for perpetually open water, an Arctic oasis for humans and animals alike in a land of snow and ice.
"This is an adolescent's right of passage of a kind almost never seen in modern societies," says Fred Kaufman, executive producer of NATURE. "It's one that binds the spirit and character of mankind to the awesome qualities of the natural world."
Crossing the island by sled and skidoo, sleeping in igloos and eating fish caught from frozen lakes, Noah and Logan brave 50-mile-per-hour gales and well-below-zero temperatures, sometimes taking lessons in perseverance and endurance from the supreme predator of the Arctic - the majestic polar bear.
"The Living Edens - Arctic Oasis: Canada's Sounthampton Island," a special presentation of NATURE, is a production of Arctic Bear Productions in association with Devillier Donegan Enterprises. Producers: Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson. Cinematographer: Adam Ravetch. Writers: Sarah Robertson and Alex Gregory.
NATURE, now in its 22nd season, is produced by Thirteen/WNET New York for PBS. Executive producer: Fred Kaufman. Executive-in-charge: William Grant.
The series has won nearly 250 honors from the television industry, parents groups, the international wildlife film community, and environmental organizations, including the first award given to a TV program by the Sierra Club.
NATURE is made possible in part by Park Foundation. Major corporate support is provided by Canon U.S.A., Inc., and Ford. Additional support is provided by the nation's public television stations.
The series is closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and distributed with Descriptive Video Service (DVS) for the sight-impaired. For more information, visit www.thirteen.org. This web companion to the weekly series contains in-depth information and colorful graphics for each program.
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Thirteen/WNET New York is one of the key program providers for public television, bringing such acclaimed series as NATURE, GREAT PERFORMANCES, AMERICAN MASTERS, CHARLIE ROSE, RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, WIDE ANGLE, STAGE ON SCREEN, EGG THE ARTS SHOW, and CYBERCHASE -- as well as the work of Bill Moyers -- to audiences nationwide. As the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metro area, Thirteen reaches millions of viewers each week, airing the best of American public television along with its own local productions such as The Ethnic Heritage Specials, The New York Walking Tours, NEW YORK VOICES, REEL NEW YORK, and its MetroArts/Thirteen cable arts programming. With educational and community outreach projects that extend the impact of its television productions, Thirteen takes television "out of the box." And as broadcast and digital media converge, Thirteen is blazing trails in the creation of Web sites, enhanced television, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, educational software, and other cutting-edge media products. More information about Thirteen can be found at: www.thirteen.org.