Takigaks — Once Were Hunters is the first long documentary film by the Finnish-Polish director Kira Jääskeläinen. It was filmed during five years in Chukotka, and it was released in 2012. Background While studying at the University of Copenhagen in the early years of the new millennium, Jääskeläinen spotted an announcement on the bulletin board of the university. What was wanted were people who could speak the Russian language, to participate in an expedition to Chukotka. Since this place was a remote border region with restricted access, she could not resist the temptation. After the expedition was over, she remained there for some time, just hanging around. Later she wrote her MA thesis on the material she had collected during the expedition. The visual material that had accumulated she put to good use, when she later sought financing for this document. The Bering Strait area made a great impression on Jääskeläinen, “one had a feeling that one’s soul really can be at peace here”. Filming trips Jääskeläinen went on the first filming trip alone, but during the subsequent three trips she had a cameraman as well as a sound man. During the first trip Jääskeläinen found the persons whom she would film, made a deal with them and made sure that they were interested in participating in this project. The filming trips were rather long, a one-way trip might take two or even three weeks, because connections might not function or weather could delay the travel. Thus it was natural that much time was spent on location. Jääskeläinen was the only one in the group who could speak Russian, so she took care of all the practical matters. For a woman to have that role was something new for the most of the locals. The making of the film took five years. Time and again the project was abandoned, and then resurrected again, “I had a feeling that this would never be completed”. The contents of the documentary Takigaks — Once Were Hunters is a film about two brothers, Kolya and Sasha, who are Siberian Yupiks and live in Novoye Chaplino, at the eastern extremity of the Chukchi Peninsula. During the first two trips, Jääskeläinen had made observation on the aboriginal people of the region: “I was touched by the fact that the local whalers live in an incredibly beautiful area, and yet they don’t seem to be quite well