Arts Engine

Stanley, a young man from Washington State struggling to find direction in his life, visits his estranged father, who lives in Old Crow, a Yukon Territory town of 300 people 80 miles inside the Arctic Circle. While Stanley Jr. is used to hip-hop and fast food, Stanley Sr.'s life is steeped in the traditions of the Gwich'in people-hunting caribou, fishing and surviving in the rugged Arctic. At first, the two "Stans" couldn't have more different interests or approaches to life. But over time, their worlds come together.

Pushing the Elephant tells the extraordinary story of a mother and daughter reunited after a decade separated by civil war. In the late 1990s, Rose Mapendo lost everything to the violence that engulfed the Democratic Republic of Congo. She emerged from the suffering advocating peace and reconciliation. But after helping numerous victims to rebuild their lives, there is one person Rose must still teach to forgive - her daughter Nangabire.