COEXTINCTION

Canada 2021, 94 min Directors Gloria Pancrazi, Elena Jean

As the salmon they rely on for sustenance dwindles and the noise from tankers and pleasure boats disrupt their hunt for those elusive fish in the Pacific Northwest’s Salish Sea, the orca population shrinks. Now numbering less than 100, extinction of the Southern Resident killer whales looms and that’s not all, as this stunning documentary illustrates. Filmmakers Gloria Pancrazi and Elena Jean, activists and central characters in their film, illustrate not only the threats to the whales but also to the salmon, and how their diminishing numbers affects First Nations fisheries, grizzly bears, and potentially the entire human race. Reversing course to save the orcas and the salmon presents a challenge but one that activists, including many tribal leaders, are prepared to meet—if ineffectual politicians and rapacious big business would stop blocking common-sense measures. Gorgeous cinematography highlights the beauty and vulnerability of the whales in an absorbing film that is also a pressing call to action. –Pam Grady

We will be joined in person by Gloria Pancrazi and Elena Jean, Co-Directors, Coextinction, for an onstage conversation.