"Filmmakers Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm will be in Langley for opening night of their documentary, The Whale, which runs Oct. 21-24 at The Clyde Theatre. Co-directed by journalist Michael Parfit and producer-cinematographer Suzanne Chisholm, who live on Vancouver Island, The Whale is about the young killer whale Luna who causes upheaval in a small British Columbia town when he tries to befriend humans. The film is narrated by Ryan Reynolds, who was born and raised in Vancouver BC, and serves as executive producer along with Scarlett Johansson and Eric Desatnik. The 85-minute documentary made its debut in the Seattle area in September, and has received Critics’ Pick designations from both The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Parfit and Chisholm encountered Luna at the height of his celebrity, and the filmmakers spent several years chronicling his adventures in print and on film. Set on the rugged western coast of Vancouver Island, The Whale is the tale of what happens when Luna is separated from his family and unexpectedly makes contact with people along Nootka Sound. Luna attempts to find a surrogate family among the residents, but the locals become torn between their love for the young whale and their fear that human contact may do him harm. The documentary is seen through the eyes of the people who live and work along Nootka Sound — a cook on an old freighter, a fisheries officer, a grandmother arrested for petting Luna and a Native American elder whose tribe believes Luna is the reincarnation of a chief."

Get the Story:
Whidbey Island Life: Directors of ‘The Whale’, a documentary about Luna, to appear at The Clyde Theatre (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 10/21)