The toughest film I've ever made...
Two years ago I made a film with a Nenets family in Yamal Peninsula, Siberia.
The idea was to travel with them and their herd of reindeer for 3 weeks as part of their 1500km yearly migration.
We chose December as the time to do this because we were advised that this would be the harshest time of the year to experience this way of life.
What happened to us on that trip took me a bit by surprise.
I mean, I knew that it would be cold but I didn't realise how bad it would be.
With daily temperatures hovering around minus 40 Celcius, much of our gear malfunctioned... the liquid crystal display on our Sony FS7 Camera froze solid, so we could neither focus nor see what we were framing in any shot. My Canon 5D's had banding lines across the images and both of my drones crashed... one day, one of them even flew away randomly towards the horizon due to the GPS anomalies that you will experience at such high latitudes.
The hardest thing about traveling the Nenets' way in such extreme temperatures is that when you arrive at your destination every day, freezing cold and exhausted, there is no warm fire awaiting you... no soft, cosy seat and a hot drink.... it's pitch black and you still have to build your home from scratch.
It can be a really disheartening experience let me tell you.
What I found totally astounding about the Nenets is that they don't just live and work in this incredibly inhospitable place... they thrive there. What is also fascinating is that their way of living has remained relatively unchanged for a very long time.
Now, many people would look at this fact and deduce that they are somehow stuck living in the past.
Well, after spending 3 weeks traveling with a family, I can report back that this is certainly NOT the case.
Nomadic Nenets rely on reindeers for almost every aspect of their lives...
They eat reindeer meat.
They live in homes made from reindeer skin.
They dress in clothes and boots made from reindeer fur.
They travel on sledges drawn by reindeers.
The reason that they still have such a strong reliance upon their animals is that modern technology has yet to offer them a better way of living their nomadic life in this part of the world.
Whilst most traveling families have one Ski-doo, they are grossly overpriced and will last about 2 years at these temperatures... as opposed to reindeers, which never break down and don't need expensive fuel to make them run..
Imported clothing is not warm enough. Imported tents are useless. In fact, other than a snow mobile, the only foreign items most commonly used by families are satellite phones and TVs (with batteries) plus a small generator to charge them.
Everything else is a waste of money.
So, my hat comes off to these people.
By far, the toughest group of individuals I have ever met in all my years of travel.
Thank you for a life changing experience.
PS. You can watch a trailer for this film here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155235975668375
See this is the type of content very much worth trending page. Thanks well done!!!
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I bet that guy in the 3rd picture is cold! I mean his F**king face is frozen!!!
Jaw dropping pics! :D
Thank you for sharing this extraordinary story Timothy! The pictures are truly breathtaking. I can’t even begin to imagine what -40°C for three weeks feels like.
My hat comes off to these people, but also for you and your crew, for finding the courage and strength to capture such a beautiful story despite extreme conditions. That’s real dedication. Chapeau bas!
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that must have been an amazing experience to be there with them. And you say you made a film about it? Where could I watch it? I'd be really interested in learning more about your journey with them.
Wow.. Supper!
This is THE journey @timothyallen, I felt cold just looking at the pictures. The third one is just astonishing and scary at the same time.
It's also awesome to see how they use simple materials on their clothing, no sintetic, no goretex.
Have the gear survided such harsh conditions?
Apart from one gimbal on a drone getting smashed, everything else came back to life in the warmth. We did have a hell of a lot of out-of-focus footage though. Batteries were lasting minimal amounts of time.... eg. the iPad mini that we used with the drones would last about 50 seconds from full charge at minus 44 even with a hot water bottle strapped to the back of it!
Wow, guess that Siberia just doesn't like people recording its beauties haha
But still, I'd do such a journey if I had a chance, we may learn to value things a lot more once we come back to the comfortable zones.
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Wow that does sound like a life changing experience. Love the photos. What was the film called?
Thanks
Wow, that's crazy! That's really cold! Did you have other cameras that you used to after the first two froze up? Were you able to get your drone back?
Just don't do it outside. You might freeze!