Running Time: 72 mins
Year: 2003

synopsis

One of the most notorious explorers of the early 20th Century, Vilhjalmur Stefansson oscillated throughout his life between obscurity, celebrity and defamation. Best known for having “discovered” the “Blond Eskimos” (Copper Inuit) of the Central Arctic in 1910, Vilhjalmur Stefansson was one of the first anthropologists to adopt the lifestyle of the people he observed.

Obsessed by his desire for fame and possessed of his dreams of discovery, Stefansson was the last explorer to uncover new lands in the Arctic. From Stefansson’s death-defying treks, that even the native Inuit would not dare, to his challenges during the McCarthy witch hunt, Arctic Dreamer documents his life with integrity, objectivity and beauty.

Credits

Director Tom Radford, Peter Raymont
Producers Peter Raymont, Lindalee Tracey
Writers Tom Radford, Peter Raymont, Patrick Reed
Editor Michele Hozer
Director of Photography Walter Corbett
Music By Mark Korven

Produced by White Pine Pictures in association with History Television and APTN,
with the participation of Rogers Cable Network Fund, Telefilm Canada, NFB

“DOES NOT SHY AWAY FROM THE DARKER CHAPTERS OF STEFANSSON’S CAREER…CONFIRMS HIS STATUS AS A VISIONARY”

— Macleans