This article is jointly published with The Daily Utah Chronicle as part of collaborative coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Saturday night’s screening of “Nuisance Bear,” a documentary film directed by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman, brought to life the poignant and impactful story of the migration patterns of the polar bears in the Canadian Arctic. Separating itself from other documentaries — conservationist or otherwise — Vanden and Weisman share a story that captures disparate perspectives on this issue, exposing the conflicting truths that arise when people of differing backgrounds must find individual solutions to a shared problem.
When bears come to town
“Nuisance Bear” shares with its viewers the experience of a polar bear as it tries to navigate its natural migration path while simultaneously being managed by three conflicted groups: eco-tourism, conservation officers and the local indigenous peoples. This conflict only grows with the added factor of climate change, as the bears must wait increasingly longer for the ice to freeze before they can continue migrating away from the town.
Tour guides have vested interest in the bears staying longer, and will often lure them closer to the town of Churchill, Manitoba. Meanwhile, the conservation officers will get reports of bears nearby and chase them off with trucks, helicopters and fireworks. The polar bears who dare to complete their natural migratory path find themselves in the crosshairs of these two groups. However, as bears spend more and more time around civilization, they start to lose their natural apprehension towards humans, and their newfound bravery leads to them breaking into factories or warehouses. When the conservationist officers can no longer convince the bears to stay away, they tranquilize the bear and ship it up north by helicopter, in hopes that the bear can continue its migratory path away from the town.
The impact of colonialism on conservation
What this simple solution seems to overlook, is the community of Arviat located 160 miles north of Churchill. When the bears are shipped from Churchill, the problem does not go away — it simply moves locations. Historically, the Inuit people of Arviat have had their own methods of living with the bears. However, recent changes have prevented them from being in control of the livelihood of their community. According to the film’s press release, “In Arviat, nanuq (polar bear) is a sacred being woven into Inuit cosmology. Hunting has long been both a rite of passage and a means of population management, but government quotas shaped by outside conservation concerns have sharply reduced this practice.”
“Nuisance Bear” applies itself as an example for how deep-rooted colonialism can negatively impact lives for generations. As white settlers moved into Manitoba, they did everything in their power to erase indigenous stories and knowledge. This erasure has had disastrous effects for both the indigenous communities and the local wildlife. According to the press release for the film, “Inuit rely on Qaujimajatuqangit, their own knowledge system, to track bear numbers, and many maintain the population is stable or rising. Conservation groups often dismiss this knowledge as unscientific.” Dismissal of indigenous knowledge is what has led to the precarious situation that the Arviat find themselves in, not knowing whether to break the law and prioritize their people, or avoid trouble and let the bears come. However, this illogical hierarchy of knowledge is not new.
Music’s critical role
The music for the film was composed by Cristóbal Tapia De Veer, whose most notable past works include “Black Mirror” and “White Lotus.” The soundtrack is arguably one of the most impactful choices made by the team behind this film, as it allows the audience to become completely immersed in what is happening on screen. With meaningful flourishes and pauses, the soundtrack breaks through typical documentary stereotypes and explores emotion and connection through music.
Continuing with Sundance’s mission and founder Robert Redford’s goal for the festival, “Nuisance Bear” takes “everybody has a story” to a new level. The movie does an exceptional job of subverting the audience’s expectation whilst simultaneously revealing the flaws in most conversationist stories. This film highlights the importance of the Sundance Film Festival and its efforts to give a stage (or in this case, a theatre) to those who are ready to share their story with the world.