In the tiny village of Old Crow, 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle, a father and his son are reunited after almost 20 years apart. They share a name and a bloodline, but the worlds they know and the lifestyles they lead are as different as their respective hometown climates. Stanley Sr. is a hunter, a rugged man of the land steeped in native traditions. Seattle-raised Stanley Jr. immerses himself in hip hop music, video games, and drunken debauched nights. Embedded within this moving father–son story is a larger exploration of the complex relationship between tradition and modernity; old and young; nature and pop culture; addiction and independence; and the bigger quest we all embark on at one point or another—the need to know who we are and where we belong.

The story unfolds in a town unlike any other. Old Crow, population 250, is a native Gwich’in village in the Canadian Yukon. A place of raw beauty and extreme location, there are no chain stores, restaurants’, movie theaters, or roads in or out.  But the town is arriving at a critical point of transition, with the Internet and satellite television now connecting it to the outside world (and the temptations and challenges that world offers). Like father and son, Old Crow is caught in the struggle to find a sustainable balance between old and new.

Arctic Son, a generation gap story with an unusual backdrop, picks up just prior to the reunion of “the Stanleys.” Stanley Sr. learns of his son’s aimlessness and increasing drug and alcohol use and invites him to Old Crow—hoping to instill some sage advice and bring him to his senses far from the chaotic American city. Stanley Jr.’s transition from life as a troubled teenager in Washington State with his mother to life in Old Crow with his father is by no means smooth, but he tries to make it work. At first he misses the conveniences and pace of life back home and seeks solace in his art and in phone calls to his friends back home He also discovers that homebrew is available in this dry town, and drinks heavily and angrily.

DIRECTOR:

Andrew Walton

PRODUCER:

Dallas Brennan Rexer and Elizabeth Mandel

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

Katy Chevigny and Nick Quested

EDITOR:

Bryan Gunnar Cole

GENEROUS FUNDERS:

The Chris T. Christ Initiatives Funder/The Battle Creek Community Foundation, The Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund, The Experimental Television Center’s Finishing Funds Program, The LEF Foundation, Hanmin Liu and Jennifer Mei/The Low Dot Chew and Lee Shee Fund, The Unity Avenue Foundation, The Wellspring Foundation and other kind supporters.

Visit official site

Buy now!