Komi, a Journey Across the Arctic | SLICE | FULL DOCUMENTARY

[Music] [Music] [Music] speee whatever weather you always have to keep an eye on the reindeer they tend to move away this is the Arctic Circle in Russia's far north where the Euro mountains divide Europe and Asia two Comey families live alongside their 5,000 reindeer they are entirely dependent on their animals and have preserved an ancient way of life that is in constant harmony with nature alexe and wle have made it back to their reindeer these animals are continually seeking food and won't stay long in the same place in summer they'll move on to the slopes of the urals where more welcoming p ERS await them the immense desolate Tundra typifies the Artic Circle landscape the region our families are traveling through is as large as France and Germany combined it is home to half a million people and just as many reindeer alexe wle and their families each live in a Chum which is a big tent while the men look after the huge herd the four women Marina shur Nita and lud Milla take care of the family and home I have seven children two daughters five Sons both daughters are married and three of my sons are still single the other two have already married we all live here together Marina is one of my daughters-in-law how long have you been together 12 years 12 years [Music] I don't want her to go I'm very fond of her I'd really like her to stay here always but who knows perhaps one day she'll go off with her husband and I'll have to be on my own the summers are shortlived throughout the Arctic Circle as every September the families and their herds are getting ready for a long hard journey it will take them beyond the Euro mountains to the Winter Camp several hundred reindeer have been selected from among the huge herd to draw the two family sleds the men wait until the last moment before catching them you oh you VY [Applause] when the Men return from their trip with the reindeer it's like a celebration for us when they're outside with the animals they have to prepare the meals themselves and look after the reindeer but when they return there's lots of good food waiting on the table we make them a good hot meal to warm them up they need to come in from the cold and warm up their feet their feet are always wet when they're outside our husbands are young but they've already got room matism the men love these cakes when they see them they're just really happy foreign speech speech [Music] [Applause] spee [Music] [Applause] e finished for today as long as the Wolves stay away everything's okay but they always come back and what do they do they killed 30 of them recently when it happens at night there's nothing you can do we've got guns of course but you can't fire in the dark and the Wolves don't appear in broad daylight [Music] [Music] [Applause] foree [Applause] for speech foreign for fore [Music] of course I'll go and see the children as soon as I can they don't live in the town itself but in a little village with their grandmother my mother I'll go and see them as soon as I have an opportunity but if I call I won't see them again until May next year Marina's daughters should have already been back at school for the last 2 weeks but the town and the school are 125 Mi away and can only be reached by snowcat or helicopter for 2 days now Joseph has been going around to The Nomad families on the snowcat to pick up the children who go to school [Music] fore for fore fore foreign speech the tomb is divided in two I live in this half with my family my husband my daughters and my husband's two unmarried Brothers we're seven in all my parents inlaw live on the other side with my married brother-in-law and his family there are five of them so that means that there are five on this side and seven on the other in 12 people live in this ch for in the evening the men get together around the meal in order to prepare the journey spee fore fore speee uhhuh [Music] fore the preparations are already well Advanced alexe and W have left their huge herd of 5,000 reindeer who have begun their winter migration with some of the family members leading the way but the two men had previously selected the most robust to draw their 50 sleds with all their possessions I'd like to get some news of the children but I can't make a connection that often happens because of bad weather it also happens with the northern lights they can interfere with the radio link it's always the same old [Music] story for speeech foreign spe fore [Music] speeech tonight's storm caught Alexi by surprise it brought the first snow it's the end of September in a few days time the families will have finished packing everything and the sleds will be loaded up the men women and animals will be completely ready for The Long Winter migration speech foreign speee foree the chum are taken down and the reindeer harness to the sleds that was the last night on the tundra for [Applause] in summer we go into the mountains and in Winter we settle in the tiger forest it's warmer and the reindeer can eat the Moss are always storms here in the mountains but we're sheltered in the tiger we switch between the two we can't stay in the forest in summer there's Moss but no grass that's why we go elsewhere in Autumn we travel 250 Mi to our winter camp and in the spring we do the same distance in the opposite [Music] direction [Music] a pagan ritual is played out prior to each departure the people animals and sleds go around in a circle symbolically depicting the path of the [Music] sun it's the start of a journey that will last several weeks the enormous herd has set the face and it's now followed by the families and their [Music] sleds while traveling the nomads will pass the tombs of their ancestors a tough Journey Through the Euro mountains is ahead from Europe to [Music] Asia [Music] oh [Music] alexe wle and their families rarely stay in the same place during the winter migration they travel between 6 and 10 miles each day and re-erect their tents and stoves every night foreign spee foree fore oh alexe what does your wife do when you work here my wife she's got her own work to do what sort of work I don't know work in the chum she does the washing brings wood in there was a storm yesterday she had to clean up inside she's got her work cut out she does the cooking of course what do we eat always the same things stewed meat and fish she'll certainly manage to find something to make for us I let her decide my wife knows what she needs to do the Convoy reaches a pass wle alexe and his younger brother go off to do reconnaissance on the route put foreign fore foreign fore we're doing the mountain part tomorrow it's snow too early this year that's good because we'll be able to move more easily the track is very Stony it's not so easy for the reindeer they often stumble we're going from Europe over to Asia and by tomorrow we'll be in Asia this is a summer pasture here there's grass everywhere when it snows the grass dies there's no longer anything to eat that's why we go further on fore so fore foreign spe foreign fore [Music] go [Music] [Music] n [Music] a [Music] [Music] hey it's early December after 2 months of traveling and nearly 125 miles the Convoy has reached a village on the other side of the ears it's a couple of miles outside the town of sikart it's here that part of the herd is slaughtered every year [Applause] the huge herd of reindeer is former State Property inherited from the Soviet era the two Comey families now own part of it while the remainder still belongs to the government on finish [Applause] finish [Music] me we Mark the reindeer so we know who they belong to some of the animals belong to the state and others are ours they all have a different Mark that's how we recognize them [Applause] for do wasee foree [Music] we've bought some fruit and some treats for the children we buy a little of everything but only in small quantities try things first and if we like them we buy them in Greater quantities the next time there are loads of things in the shop and everything's lovely when we get dressed up like this everyone looks at us as if we're from another planet we don't feel very comfortable [Music] for spe we note down the different categories of animals on this table female reindeer the males the young ones and those that will be used for transport [Applause] [Applause] spe [Applause] the temperature has gone down to minus 40 tonight the next day the slaughtered animals destined for sale are frozen and stored but there's little demand for reindeer meat nowadays in the cities and towns people prefer to buy cheap imported beef or [Applause] pork we're late this year the slaughtering normally takes place in October because we haven't got a freezer here we have to wait until it's cold enough outside normally it's better to kill the animals in October because they're fatter but because we haven't got any way of freezing them we have to wait until it's cold enough outside then we can go back to our winter camp and rest a little [Applause] [Music] [Applause] fore [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] spee two more months have passed and it's now March the people and animals have traveled well over a 100 miles and reached their winter lodgings in the Tiga forests here they'll find as much wood as they need to make fire and build new sleds as for the reindeer at last they've found something they can sink their teeth into they've been here for several weeks now and this is where their long journey ends I like it like this but maybe my wife doesn't like it anymore I think she needs a younger man I'm already too old for her perhaps my wife would kiss me more if I shaved more often but I haven't got time to shave every day or for canoodling I work all day so in the evening I have my tea and go to bed [Applause] the Sledge runners wear down quickly what what we do is just add another runner on top in summer in the mountains they wear down very quickly we have to repair the sleds now as we won't have time when we start moving again we'll be busy with the animals go go [Music] [Music] yes alexe wle and their families make the most of the winter break to prepare for the summer migration at their Leisure they devote part of their time to repairing their Leeds and building new ones this scarf belonged to my grandmother she must have got it from her grandmother I suppose this one belonged to my other grandmother it's at least a 100 years old it's wonderful we like wearing colorful clothes it's one of our Traditions it's more fun styish we are women we like being beautiful what dear Mommy Daddy and Al it's the 10th of March today and we're writing this letter because we miss you very much but happily it'll soon the end of the school year we're being good at school and working hard and how are you are you well and you Alina can you already read and write how are the young Ria they must be big now we miss you dearly and can't wait to see you again say hello to everybody goodbye mommy daddy and Alina see you soon with lots of loveeta and nasta of course later I'd like at least one of my daughters to live here in the chum and for her to maintain our ancestors way of life we won't stay young forever one day or another we'll be old and it will be our children's turn to take up the torch and heard the reindeer if no one continues there'll soon be no more reindeer herders after having regained their strength in their winter lodgings alexe and W and their families will travel through the urals again in a few weeks in April they will cross the mountains and as they do every year they'll set up their chume in the summer pastures on the European [Music] side spent all my life here why would I go to the city where everything's different nobody needs me over there people need my advice here I'm useful but over there i' have no purpose the reindeer are everything for us they transport us clothe us and feed us the reindeer are our life they're Priceless we don't need gold we've got the reindeer there are gold [Music] that

Channel: SLICE

Views: 228,665

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, shortdoc, shortdocs, slice, slicedocs, komi, Arctic

Id: cCfb9vhFcxo

Length: 50min 39sec (3039 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 14 2024