I am Samueli Ammaq. I live in Igloolik. Although I was born in Sangunaniq, I just say I’m from Igloolik. I am only recently of Igloolik, but I live here.
My name is Tooguyuk, which means “big fluffy dog”. I'm actually from
Igloolik, and am Samueli Ammaq's lead dog. In the film, I am going to
play the lead dog of the Greenlandic character Bosun (played by Qillaq
Petersen from Qaanaaq).
I've been a chef for about 22 years. I started in my hometown of
Sherbrooke, QC and I went to Iqaluit after that for about 10 years. I
learned how to cook country food (caribou, seal, etc.) at Expo '86 in
Vancouver in the Northwest Territories Pavillion. I learned how to cook
country food over there.
How important is the community of Igloolik to the film?
It's important because all of the staff is from the community.
Everything I need goes through the community. Most of the staff and
qamutiks (sleds) come from the community.
My education is in theatre design. I worked for years in animations
and expressions, but I thought it was really boring because it always
looks the same; like steel and wood and dust. So I contacted the Danish
film school and got into there. Ever since then I've worked in film.
It's very white, very nice. I like it, it's very different. There's
a lot of snow. I used to play in the snow when I was a kid, but never
this much. It's like going back in time.