A little bit To Sir With Love, a little bit Wake in Fright, THE GRIZZLIES is the inspiring true story of first-year teacher Russ Sheppard, who takes a temporary assignment to teach at a high school in Kugluktuk, a small arctic town with the highest suicide rate in North America.
A polar nullabor, Kugluktuk is desolate in both geographical terrain and cultural disjoint, the impact of the white man on the indigenous community has had a devastating effect, creating an ennui in the Inuit that decays spirit, mind and body.
Woke white teacher, Russ Shepherd is shaken at having no success at getting his Inuit students to show up for class, shocked at seeing that many of the teens roam around town drinking and smoking dope.
Finding a way to curb this state of futility, failure and fatalism comes in a flash after attending yet another funeral. He believes that teaching them the sport of lacrosse will get them in school and motivate them to achieve. It’s a recipe for respect building that resonates those three little words. Against. All. Odds.
Attempting a tightrope project that could plunge into condescension and tokenism, it was deeply important to the producers of THE GRIZZLIES to create an environment of collaboration and an atmosphere of inclusion and respect in the depiction of this true story of real people. As part of this commitment, they created a paid mentorship program that enabled Inuit crew, Inuit and Indigenous actors, Inuit musicians, and Inuit creative collaborators to work on the film in each and every department.
THE GRIZZLIES has provided a training ground for future Inuit and Indigenous filmmakers with more than 91% of the cast and more than 33% of the crew being Inuit or Indigenous.
Directed by Miranda de Pencier, with a screenplay by Breaking Bad scenarist, Moira Walley-Beckett and the writer of Speed, Graham Yost, THE GRIZZLIES navigates the thorny themes of cultural imposition and reconciliation with dignity and taste.
THE GRIZZLIES is available to rent or buy on all major platforms and on DVD.
Website: thegrizzliesmovie.com.au
Trailer: The Grizzlies | Official Trailer