Watchers Of The North

6×30 min ⎮ Canada ⎮ 2013
documentary series
APTN

Director, Camera and Researcher

produced by Picture This Productions

Watchers of the North is a six-part APTN miniseries chronicling the daily lives of the Canadian Rangers, one of the most intriguing military regiments in the Canadian Forces. Formed in the closing stages of WWII and expanding during the Cold War, the Canadian Rangers are made up of local Aboriginal and Inuit men and women who patrol Canada’s far north, watching for suspicious activity and reinforcing Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.
Watchers of the North focuses on two communities in Nunavut with strong Rangers traditions: Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak. Each episode’s action-oriented stories portray the professional and personal challenges of being an aboriginal Canadian Ranger in a remote, strategically placed town in the Canadian North. We’ll follow the Rangers from their training regiments to their patrols, watch as they check on Canada’s northern radar arrays and deal with polar bears that approach their communities, and chronicle the Rangers’ part in Operation Nunalivut, one of the Canadian Forces’ largest Northern exercises.
Being a Canadian Ranger is an important part of these men and women’s identities. The position of responsibility is highly respected in small communities across Canada. It is a part-time reserve job that has wide effects on their personal and professional lives. The 4,500 men and women who make up the Rangers are strong characters and leaders who help their communities face the particular challenges of their geography.

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