''Finding Farley'' is a 2009 documentary directed by Leanne Allison as she and her husband Karsten Heuer travel across

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the literary footsteps of the Canadian writer

Farley Mowat Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...

. Heuer, a biologist and author, had written a book on his experiences making the documentary '' Being Caribou'', in which he and Allison traveled by foot across

Arctic tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

following a herd of 120,000

Porcupine caribou The Porcupine caribou ''(Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus'') is a herd or ecotype of barren-ground caribou, the subspecies of the reindeer or caribou found in Alaska, United States, and Yukon and the Northwest Territories, Canada. A recent revisio ...

. After reading a draft of Heuer's account, Mowat invited them to visit him at his summer farm in Cape Breton Island. Accompanied by their two-year-old son Zev and dog Willow, the couple left their home in Canmore in May 2007 for a , six-month trek east across Canada. From Canmore, 100 kilometres west of Calgary, they canoed to Hudson Bay, visiting many of the settings that Mowat wrote about in '' Never Cry Wolf'', ''

Lost in the Barrens ''Lost in the Barrens'' is a children's novel by Farley Mowat, first published in 1956. Later editions used the title ''Two Against the North''. It won Governor General's Award in 1956 and the Canada Library Association Book of the Year for Ch ...

'' and ''

People of the Deer ''People of the Deer'' (published in 1952, revised in 1975) is Canadian author Farley Mowat's first book, and brought him literary recognition. The book is based upon a series of travels the author undertook in the Canadian barren lands, of Kee ...

''. From Hudson Bay, their plan was to travel by sea to northern

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

, the setting of Mowat's stories such as ''The Serpent's Coil'', '' Grey Seas Under'', ''Sea of Slaughter'' and ''A Whale for the Killing''. From

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...

they planned a final journey by water, arriving at Cape Breton near the end of October. ''Finding Farley'' was the top film at the 2010

Banff Mountain Film Festival The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival is an international film competition and annual presentation of films and documentaries about mountain culture, sports, environment and adventure & exploration. It was launched in 1976 as ''The Banff Festival ...

, receiving both the Grand Prize and People's Choice awards.

References

External links

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Watch ''Finding Farley'' at NFB.ca
2009 films English-language Canadian films 2009 documentary films Documentary films about canoeing Documentary films about writers Films shot in Canada National Film Board of Canada documentaries Travelogues Farley Mowat Documentary films about Canada 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian films {{nature-documentary-film-stub