SAW Video E-Newsletter January 24th, 2008

Please be advised that George Ritter, CEO and Nunavut Film, working with filmmakers from Nunavik, Nunavut and Labrador, will screen these "Made in the North" films at a filmmakers screening room at the

Northern Lights Trade Show (Ottawa Congress Centre) starting each day of the show (Jan 31st- Feb 2nd 2008), 12-6pm apprx.

ATANARJUAT THE FAST RUNNER BY DIRECTOR ZACHARIAS KUNUK WILL BE SCREENED AT THE CINEMA IN THE MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION ON SATURDAY NIGHT, FEB 2 at 5 pm TICKETS ARE FREE.
THE DIRECTOR WILL BE ON HAND TO INTRODUCE THE FILM

For more info contact George Ritter by email at george@nunavutfilm.ca

Films from Nunavut

Atanarjuat The Fast Runner
Directed by Zacharis Kunuk

Winner of the Camera d'or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, Directed by Zacharis Kunuk, Produced by Isuma Productions and the NFB.

2001, 172mins

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.
Directed by Zacharis Kunuk and Norman Cohn

Isuma's second feature film is set in Igloolik in 1922-23 as the last Inuit shaman Avva and his family are converted from their traditional life and beliefs to Christianity. Produced by Isuma Productions

2006, 112mins

Kiviuq
Directed by John Houston
Produced by Kirt Ejesiak

Kiviuq is a legendary and heroic Inuk who has lived very long through many lives. He is a wanderer, and the adventures he has on his journeys vary according to the storyteller.

This film follows the hero through many scenarios, including one of wellknown legend of an old woman who changes her grandson into a seal. The boy – as a seal – is forced to swim out to sea, and is followed by a group of hunters who intend to kill him. Before the hunters reach him, however, the old woman creates a storm and drowns everyone but the seal and Kiviuq. The seal swims safely back to shore, where the old woman turns him back into a boy. Kiviuq drifts away in his kayak continuing his adventures and living with people of many foreign lands. Kiviuq is a modern way to share and preserve the Kiviuq story-cycle stories as told by elders through oral tradition.

This film is an adaptation of a live performance which adds an element of magic to the telling of these stories.

2007, 72mins

Kikkik, E1-472
Directed by: Martin Kreelak
Produced by Ole Gjerstad, Debbie Brisebois
Distribution: Inuit Broadcasting Corporation

During the 1950s' famine in the Canadian Arctic, Kikkik, an Inuk woman, killed a man in self-defense and then found herself having to leave two of her five children on the tundra. She was tried for murder and criminal negligence, and subsequently acquitted. Her daughter, Elisapee Karetak, who lives in Arviat, Nunavut, has spent many years tracing the events of her family's story. Elisapee's brothers and sisters as well as many members of the Inuit community who lived through the ordeal recount their memories.

2002, 48mins

The Making of The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.: By Greenland filmmaker, Kenneth Rasmussen, behind the scenes mixing Igloolik Inuit, Greenlanders, Danish movie stars and French-Canadian technicians 50 miles out into the arctic

Inuit Piqutingit (What Belongs to Inuit). A group of elders visits five southern museums to view the mostly hidden-away collections of priceless artefacts and clothing collected from their Inuit ancestors over the past two hundred years.

Nunavut (Our Land), 13-part TV series recreating the fictional year 1945-46 in the life of Igloolik Inuit.

Qimuksiq (Dog Team). Episode 1: Spring 1945. While imparting knowledge to the next generation, Inuaraq's family travels in the immense and beautiful arctic during spring.

Avaja. Episode 2: Spring 1945. Inuaraq's family finally arrives at Avaja to a warm welcome. The priest invites them to come to church.

Qarmaq (Stone House). Episode 3: Fall 1945. Grandmother remembers how to build a stone house in the old way.

Tugaliak (Ice Porch). Episode 4: Fall 1945. News of the terrible world war raging outside makes people frightened and uneasy.

Angiraq (Home). Episode 5: Fall 1945. The stone house is warm and comfortable. Men look for seals on the fresh ice, while women work at home.

Auriaq (Seal Hunting). Episode 6: Spring 1946. season of never-ending days. Two dog teams searching the spring ice, men and boys hunting day and night.

Qulangisi (Seal Pups). Episode 7: Spring 1946. A springtime delicacy, when pups come out on the ice, even small children and grandmothers can hunt.

Avamuktulik (Fish Swimming Back and Forth). Episode 8: Spring 1946. Inuaraq throws his bones and finds the fish swimming back and forth.

Aiviaq (Walrus Hunt) Episode 9: Summer 1946. A "tookatookatook", brings the Priest to Qaisut, island of the walrus hunters.

Qaisut (Polar Bear Island). Episode 10: Summer 1946. Children explore ruins of ancient times.

Tuktuliaq (Caribou Hunt). Episode 11: Fall 1946. It's an early autumn and the weather is already getting colder.

Unaaq (Harpoon). Episode 12: Winter 1946. Tea boils over seal lamps, children play on caribou skin beds. Qulitalik talks about the year gone past.

Quviasukvik (Happy Day) Episode 13: Winter 1946. A month since the sun disappeared, Christmas is a strange mix of ritual, some from the old life, some from the new.

Qaggiq (Gathering Place). A late-winter camp in the 1930's. Four families build a qaggiq, a large communal igloo, to celebrate the coming spring with games, singing and drum dancing.

Nunaqpa (Going Inland). Summer, 1930's. Two families leave for the long walk inland to catch enough summer-fat caribou for the hard winter ahead.

Saputi (Fish Traps). As summer ends in the 1930's, three families build a saputi to trap fish going upriver for the winter.

Nanugiurutiga (My First Polar Bear). An Igloolik elder, Abraham Ulayuruluk, recounts stories about hunting polar bears in the old days.

Ajaina! (Almost) Igloolik Elders discuss their views and values: the role of Inuit and "Southern" forms of education, survival strategies (such as how to save a drowning victim), and the differences between camp and settlement life.

Artcirq (Circus Group). Students from Montreal's National Circus School and local Inuit youth of Igloolik produce a unique circus performance which marries Inuit traditions with classic elements of the Big Top, using art to combat suicide and despair.

Nipi (Voice). Rapid change in Nunavut has concentrated power, wealth and information in a few hands. Nipi asks Inuit politicians and elders to comment on fundamental questions of power and leadership and the real meaning of 'self-government.'

Arvik! (Bowhead!). In 1994, a group of hunters from Igloolik fulfill the dying wish of a respected Elder, illegally harvesting a bowhead whale after years of government prohibition.

Angakuiit (Shaman Stories) Inuit memories, experiences and oral histories of shamanism; interviews with youth, elders and politicians who all share a belief that things happen, and that shamanism is still a living religion.

Kunuk Family Reunion. Zacharias Kunuk's family gathers at the birthplace of his father and grandfather Sigluk to honor their history.

Qallunajatut (Urban Inuk). The lives of three Inuit in Montreal over one hot, humid summer, exploring urbanization of the Inuit psyche, as people move farther away from a direct connection to the land that has sustained their ancestors for thousands of years.

Unakuluk (Dear Little One). Adoption stories in one Inuit extended family now include Alexandre Apak, adopted son of Montreal filmmaker, Marie-helene Cousineau.

Kiviaq vs Canada. Zacharias Kunuk travels to Edmonton to meet Kiviaq, Canada's first Inuit lawyer fighting for the legal definition of Inuit and Inuit rights..

407/Issaituq (Waterproof). A young Inuk who lost his love tries to use alcohol to put reality and the past behind him, but the past keeps hunting him.

other films

2007 Kivalliq Arts & Crafts Festival

The Mystery of Arqioq by Piksuk Media

Waiting at the Edge
a video about Sustainable sealing in Nunavut by ICSL for GN Dept of Environment

The Nunavut Elders Serie's by ICSL

Films from Nunavik

The Story of Mitirajuk
Producer: Bruna Mastroianni
Director: Hugo Lalonde

Looking at her, she seems so small, so frail but when you consider her desire to learn and to teach she is a real giant!

The story of Mitiarjuk depicts one woman's determination to preserve the language and culture of the Inuit in Nunavik.

Mitiarjuk Attasi Nappaaluk was born in 1931 near Kangiqsujuaq.
Although she never went to school, she is the author of Sanaaq, the first novel written in Inuttitut as well as many educational books that explain the Inuit way of life. She assisted in compiling an encyclopedia of traditional Inuit knowledge, a French-Inuttitut dictionary. She also translated prayer books. Mitiarjuk has had an active role on health boards, education and justice committees, and language commissions.

In 1999 she received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Heritage and Spirituality. In 2000, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by McGill University.

2003, 48 mins

Inuuvunga: I am Inuk I am Alive
Producer: Pierre Lapointe ( NFB)
Producer: Bruna Mastroianni (KSB)

Directors: Bobby Echalook, Sarah Idlout, Laura Iqaluk, Linus Kasudluak, Willia Ningeok, Caroline Ningiuk, Dora Ohaituk, Rita-Lucy Ohaituk, Mila Aung-Thwin, Daniel Cross, Brett Gaylor

Hockey, hip hop, hunting and midnight Ski-Doo rides. Welcome to Inukjuak.
It's the final year of high school for eight teens at Innalik school in this remote town in northern Quebec. Through an initiative of the National Film Board, these eight students have been selected to document this pivotal year of their lives. To teach them some basics, the NFB has dispatched filmmakers Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin. The result of their collaboration is Inuuvunga, a vibrant and utterly contemporary view of life in Canada's North. The students use their new film skills to address a broad range of issues, from the widening communication gap with their elders to the loss of their peers to suicide. Throughout, they reveal an unusual and fascinating mix of southern and northern cultures. Kids listen to hip-hop music and engage in traditional fox trapping. A schoolroom floor is the scene of the gutting of a freshly killed seal. Seamless and startling, Inuuvunga paints a rich portrait of coming of age in an Inuit town and helps to dispel the myths of northern isolation and desolation. Instead, we discover a place where hope and strength overcome struggle.

2004, 57 min 40 s

Respect Each Other: Asimauttaq's HipHop Message
Producer: Bruna Mastroianni
Director: Dave Stonier

Respect Each Other: Asimauttaq's Hiphop Message tells the story of how students in Kuujjuaraapik took part in a weeklong marathon on breakdancing while learning how Hiphop culture can provide a positive outlet for anger and help build self-confidence. Although initially hesitant and shy, the students pushed themselves that extra mile to prove they have what it takes to succeed!

2007, 24mins 40 s

Ullumi
Directors and Scriptwriters: Qajaaq Ellsworth, Lena Ellsworth, Evie Mark, Tunu Napartuk
Producers: Ian Boyd, Bobby May Jr., Suzann Méthot

Ullumi is an unusual, sometimes irreverent and often moving documentary directed by four young Inuit directors from Nunavik and Nunavut: Qajaaq Ellsworth, Lena Ellsworth, Evie Mark and Tunu Napartuq. Full-fledged members of today's Northern baby-boom generation, the four mean to show the world, at home and down South, just how they see themselves living as Inuit in this age of information technology and self-government.

2006, 52mins

Films from Labrador

"Romancing The Labrador - The Journey of Nutakuan"

Shot in Natuashish, Newfoundland and Labrador. The director was Christine Poker, Innu from Natuashish; the producer was Jerry Evans of Muinjij Productions

48mins