Trade Secret in Tromsø on 28 February

The award-winning investigative documentary Trade Secret will be screened at Aurora Fokus on 28 February for a one-time showing. Don’t miss it.

Trade Secret is a powerful exposé of the polar bear fur trade, uncovering how conservation, politics, and commercial interests collide behind closed doors, far from public view.

The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with Adam Cruise, the investigative journalist at the heart of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd1uLSEqgCs

what is TRADE SECRET?

Winner of the Golden Panda Award and multiple international honours, Trade Secret is an award-winning investigative documentary exposing the little-known international commercial trade in polar bear skins, including Norway’s role within it.

Filmed over six years across nine countries, with extensive filming in Svalbard, Bergen, Tromsø, and Oslo, the film is a shocking exposé of a trade few people realise still exists, and the powerful forces working to sustain it.

Polar bears in a shop in Bergen (from Trade Secret)

Trade Secret follows three unlikely allies on a mission to protect polar bears from international commercial trade. The film exposes the sanctioned sale of hundreds of polar bears each year on the global market. But as the investigation deepens, it uncovers a disturbing truth: those entrusted with safeguarding the species may be entangled in their continued commercialisation. The film raises urgent questions about how we protect vulnerable species in a world where the lines between protection and exploitation have become blurred.

Polar bear for sale (from Trade Secret)

TRADE SECRET in Tromsø

Rissa Citizen Science is organizing a one-time screening at Aurora Fokus the 28th of February at 18:00, in the immediate wake of World Polar Bear Day.

The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with Adam Cruise, the investigative journalist at the heart of Trade Secret.

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Buy your ticket now on the Aurora Fokus' website.

Tickets

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Polar bear in a tourist shop in Tromsø

Why is Rissa Citizen Science organizing this screening?

Polar bears have always been an oddity for us living in Tromsø. Three of us (Delphin, Saga and Linn) have lived or worked in Svalbard, where bears are protected. If between one and three get killed ("by accident") almost every year in Svalbard, at least hunting polar bears is not legal.

If hunting polar bears is not allowed in Svalbard, how do so many of them end up stuffed in tourists shops in Tromsø? Who are these polar bears and where do they come from? Who were they bought from?

Just a few years ago, polar bears furs could be purchased in a shop located in the heart of the city center, among other wildlife remains. How was that legally possible?

Polar bear in a tourist shop in Tromsø

Watching Trade Secret and meeting its director Abraham Joffe was a turning point for us. When we learned that Trade Secret had been submitted to the Tromsø International Film Festival -TIFF, and not selected, we offered our help to organize a screening in Tromsø.

"This story needs to be told" Adam Cruise, wildlife journalist

Polar bear in a tourist shop in Tromsø

Buy your ticket now on the Aurora Fokus' website.

Tickets

Rissa Citizen Science does not receive any financial benefit from organizing this screening. 40% of the ticket sales will contribute to the film’s ongoing impact campaign. The rest will go to Kino Focus for hosting the screening.

Rissa Citizen Science and the team of Trade Secret are grateful to Aurora Fokus for hosting this event.