Sealing promo sparks debate in Department of Sustainable Development over seal killing scene. But the video still has to be shown to a focus group in Montreal to help determine its final form. One scene showing an Inuk shooting a seal and then dragging it behind his boat to the floe edge with a harpoon may not go over well with southern audiences. Simpson worked on the video with Katherine Clarida Fry, ICSL's managing director and producer of the video, and Greg Hancock, the GNWT's media specialist, who helped write the video.
Young models show off new seal skin fashions.
Without the scene the point of the video might be lost and could open the video to criticism that it was glossing over the realities of the hunt, he said. But what many Inuit view with sentimentality could have an entirely different effect on some southern audiences, he said. At 48 minutes, the video has been edited to fit a one-hour broadcast slot with space for commercials, Clarida Fry said. She said there has been some talk of also having a shorter version. The video opens with images of Arctic landscapes and Inuit culture interspersed with comments from elders, wildlife officers and even a marine biologist about the importance of seal hunting to Inuit culture and survival.