The Snow Walker

In the Canadian Arctic in 1953, a confident bush pilot named Charlie Halliday flies supplies to remote communities, trusting his plane and his own judgment above all else. On the return leg of one trip, he agrees to carry a young Inuit woman who is seriously ill to a hospital. When the aircraft develops engine trouble and goes down far from any settlement, the two are left to survive in the tundra without any realistic hope of rescue. The woman knows the land and how to live on it, while Charlie must abandon his assumptions about who is the expert. Their struggle to stay alive, and her patient teaching of survival skills, gradually turns his prejudice into respect and friendship.

Charles Martin Smith directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Farley Mowat, whose writing the story draws on. It is the fourth of the eight features Smith has directed, following Air Bud. Barry Pepper plays Charlie, with Annabella Piugattuk as Kannalaq, James Cromwell as Walter Shepherd, Kiersten Warren, Jon Gries and Robin Dunne in supporting roles.

The film runs 103 minutes and was released in 2003. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 out of 10 from 14 reviews, while on TMDB it stands at 7 out of 10 from 133 votes, a close match between professional and general opinion.