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Today, a documentary about Luna opens at Tacoma’s Grand Cinema.
“The Whale” is premiering in Tacoma and Seattle theaters before its national run. Producer and co-director Suzanne Chisholm said the decision to open in Tacoma was “because, in many ways, this is the home neighborhood of the little orca at the heart of the story.”
Chisholm said the Puget Sound premieres will precede the New York City opening (Sept. 23) and Los Angeles premiere (Sept. 30). A national rollout will follow.
The film is narrated by Vancouver, B.C., native Ryan Reynolds (“The Green Lantern”) and tells the story of the young cetacean – thought to be just 2 – who lost contact with his family pod and so made friends with people. Luna was after companionship, not handouts; he rejected attempts to feed him, preferring to hunt for his own food, which he did quite well.
The movie began for the filmmakers as an assignment for Smithsonian magazine. It follows not only Luna but the people he interacted with: a cook on an old freighter, a conflicted fisheries officer, a grandmother arrested for petting Luna and a tribal elder who believes Luna is the reincarnation of a chief.
Luna’s relationship with people and a possible relocation to safer waters was the source of much controversy on both sides of the border. Before he could be relocated, he was accidently killed by a tugboat in 2006.
Craig Sailor, staff writer ‘The Whale’
Not reviewed
Directors: Michael Parfit, Suzanne Chisholm
Running time: 1:25
Rated: G
Local event: Chisholm will be in attendance for Q&As following the 1:30 and 3:30 showings on Saturday at Tacoma’s Grand Cinema, 606 S. Fawcett Ave. The Grand is one of the Western Washington theaters premiering the film. More about Luna, documentary
Who was Luna and where was he from?
Luna was an orca whale born into the Southern Resident community of orcas, which spends summers eating salmon in the Salish Sea, at the edge of the Pacific Ocean between Canada and the U.S. Orcas – also called killer whales – live in all the oceans in the world, but the Southern Residents are considered a distinct population. There are fewer than 90 of them, and they are endangered.
How was Luna separated from his family?
It’s a mystery. Since Southern Resident males almost always stay with their mother’s group for their whole lives, his separation was very unusual. And it’s not likely that his family kicked him out. Nobody thinks he chose to leave, particularly since orcas have about the same lifetimes as humans, and he was just 2. There must have been some kind of mix-up, and he just got lost.
Does this film say it’s good for humans to interact with all wild whales?
No. Definitely not. Whales need space to travel, space to hunt for food, and space to care for their young. The story of Luna is about friendship and respect between species, but that means contact can work only in very unusual cases. With Luna, we believe respect and friendship meant listening to what he seemed to be trying to say about needing contact. But in almost all other cases, friendship and respect for wild creatures means giving them the space they clearly want. Sometimes humans can directly help wild animals, as happens when whales are tangled in nets or beached, and humans can cut them free or push them back to sea. But we strongly support guidelines developed by biologists to help people learn how far they should stay away from animals when they don’t specifically need our help.
What lessons do you hope people learn from this film?
Through this film, maybe we can all recognize that this little whale we called Luna had emotions that were surely not like ours but may have resembled them. And that is a big thing to learn. So if our hearts are moved by Luna, maybe that’s a start.
Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm, co-directors of “The Whale.” Read more at thewhalemovie.com/faq.php.
