THE PRIZE OF THE POLE
THE PRIZE OF THE POLE
STAFFAN JULÉN
Denmark, Sweden / 2006 / 79'
THE PRIZE OF THE POLE
STAFFAN JULÉN
Denmark, Sweden / 2006 / 79'

On a very hot summer day in 1887, Robert E. Peary, the most famous explorer of that time, landed at Brooklyn returning from one of his journeys with an outrageous load: six living Inuit people, destined for the American National Museum of Natural Sciences. This episode became one of the most moving and discussed events in the history of American expansionism. The press reported the sensational news widely and, as a consequence, thousands of New-Yorkers queued for months just to glimpse the “savages”. Unfortunately the Inuit were not immune to the “exotic” germs of the town and most of them died quite quickly. The last survivor was a six-year old child, called Minik. A strange life began for him: he first became the spokesman of his people and later the universal spokesman of all minority peoples. This is a story that still today, in our complex contemporary world, may help the debate on human rights, human existence, societies and multiculturalism.

Director

STAFFAN JULÉN