The lines between predator and prey begin to blur as a solitary polar bear journeys through a rapidly changing world.
A doc of lingering beauty, sadness, insight and even unexpected humor... This spiritual side is amplified by the brilliant Cristóbal Tapia de Veer’s astonishing score.
Nuisance Bear 2026
The remote subarctic port town of Churchill, Manitoba, lies along the migratory path of thousands of polar bears, whose lives are shaped by the thawing and freezing of Hudson Bay, earning it the title of the “Polar Bear Capital of the World.”
Every year, eco-tourists flock to Churchill for a rare glimpse of these solitary, endangered animals. As encounters between humans and polar bears become more frequent, behaviours and expectations begin to shift on both sides.
The feature debut of Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman transcends the conventions of the traditional nature documentary, as the journey of a single polar bear becomes at once microcosm and metaphor, giving way to a more complex and unsettling reality that extends beyond the bears themselves.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, Nuisance Bear expands on the directors’ acclaimed short film, deepening its quietly powerful exploration of coexistence, displacement, and the gaze through which we see the natural world.
– Hepiri Mita