People of the Seal

This feature-length documentary explores the centuries-old connection between the northern fur seal and the Unangan natives of Alaska’s Pribilof and Aleutian Islands in the middle of Alaska’s Bering Sea. Aquilina Lestenkof traces five generations of her own family’s history in this remote part of the world, weaving together native, Russian, and American cultural threads.

At the heart of the story are the fur seals. Like the Unangan, the fur seals are struggling to survive. As Aquilina says, “if they’re not here, then we won’t be either.”