Nuisance Bear Directors Discuss Their Polar Bear Documentary on Doc Talk
Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman, the directors of the documentary Nuisance Bear, have been talking about the film on Deadline's Doc Talk podcast. The episode was published on 28 October 2026, and it arrives as the film heads for cinemas.
The film follows a polar bear as its yearly migration runs into tourists, wildlife officers and hunters. It was shot in Churchill, Manitoba, a town on the shore of Hudson Bay. Rather than watching the animals from a distance, the film takes the bears' point of view, which turns the usual approach of nature documentaries on its head. It runs 90 minutes.
The film premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for documentary, according to Sundance's list of 2026 award winners. The festival is the big independent showcase in Park City, Utah. The same month, Weisman proposed to Osio Vanden outside the Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Deadline reported.
Since Sundance, the film has collected more honours. It won the James Balog Creative Vision Award at the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, and it received five nominations at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. On 27 October, it was named on the shortlist for the 2026 IDA Documentary Awards, alongside You Can See Everything and Rehearsals for a Revolution. The filmmakers had also been shortlisted for an Oscar in 2023, Deadline reported at the time.
The next step is the box office. Mubi will release the film in cinemas, and its theatrical run begins in Los Angeles on 6 November, Variety reported on 14 October. Mubi is a streaming and distribution company that also picks films for its own service, so a theatrical run is a separate step from streaming. The film was also selected for AFI Fest, the festival held in Los Angeles.
The film is a co-production between the United States and Canada, a detail that fits its Manitoba setting. The podcast is hosted by John Ridley and Matt Carey, and is produced by Deadline and John Ridley's Nō Studios.
For anyone who has watched a nature film narrated from a safe distance, the premise is a change of seat. The directors' conversation with Deadline's hosts is the place to hear how they arrived at it.
