Patience

Inuit epic set in ancient Igloolik, Atanarjuat The Fast Runner is a life-threatening struggle of love, jealousy, murder and revenge between powerful natural and supernatural characters, Canada's first feature film written, produced, directed, and acted by Inuit. 2001 Camera d'or, Cannes Film Festival; Best Picture, 2002 Genie Awards; #1 Canadian Film of the Decade, Macleans, CTV.

Rose Ukkumaluk, an Igloolik elder, relates the tale of Attagutaaluk, a woman who survived a starvation and lived to become an honoured resident of Igloolik.

YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 2000
DURATION: 29 min
GENRE: Docu-drama
FORMAT: Video (colour)
LANGUAGE: Inuktitut, Eng/Fr s-t
DIRECTORS: Mary Kunuk, Marie-Helene Cousineau
PRODUCER: Arnait Video Productions… Read more

With the powerful forces of a new century pressing in around them, Danish explorer and scientist Knud Rasmussen visits the isolated camp of the great Iglulik shaman, Aua.

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, by Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn, 112 mins. 2005. Second feature in The Fast Runner Trilogy. 

Video of ATN Kavak on the ice.

Filmmaker Contact:

Camera: Brian

Producer's Name: NITV

Country: Canada

Rooted in tradition, adoption is a reality that all Inuit families have experienced. In Inuit culture, adopting a child from a relative, friend or acquaintance is a common practice. Marie-Hélène Cousineau, the adoptive mother of Alexandre Apak, lived in Igloolik, a small island southwest of Baffin Island in the Arctic, for many years.

This second Isuma-Artcirq co-production by Igloolik youth is a story about a young Inuk who lost his love. Using alcohol to put reality and the past behind, the past keeps hunting him. When he loses control and beats up a man on the street he is sentenced to two months in an outpost camp, where a hunter is waiting for him. 

Nunaqpa is the second Isuma recreated fiction, filmed with actors in 1990 recreating a Summer caribou hunt in the 1930's. For Igloolik Inuit, it is the time of Nunaqpa, 'going inland,' the long walk in search of summer-fat caribou to catch enough meat for the hard winter ahead. Two families leave for the hunt, while the old couple and grandmother wait by the shore for their return.

In Qimuksik (Dog Team) one family travels in the immense and beautiful arctic during spring. Inuaraq teaches his young son how to survive in the old way: driving the dogs, building the igloo, catching seals on the open water, running down caribou to feed the family.    

Inuaraq's family finally arrives at Avaja to a warm welcome. Yet, many changes have taken place. On the hill above the tents, they now find a wooden church and a priest. Sharing the fresh caribou feast, telling stories, Inuit are interrupted by the bell ringing. Inside the church the sermon is clear: Paul 4:22, 'Turn away from your old way of life.'

Igloolik, Fall 1945. Akkitiq wakes up to a nice day for seal hunting. The stone house is warm and comfortable. Men pack up the dog team and look for seals on the fresh ice,while women work at home. Sometimes, the squabbling of children leads to trouble among families.

Igloolik, Spring 1946. It is the season of never-ending days. Two dog teams searching the spring ice, men and boys hunting day and night. Seals are everywhere: at the breathing holes, sleeping under the warm sun. Amachlainuk has a lucky day.

Igloolik, Spring 1946. Seal pups: springtime delicacy, prized for their soft fur and tender meat. When the pups start coming out on the ice, even small children and grandmothers can hunt.

Packed up to travel, the families move slowly over the wet ice, through lakes of fresh melting snow, hunting on the way. Finding the breathing holes is a joyful game for everyone.

Igloolik, Spring 1946. Inuaraq throws his bones at the river and finds the fish swimming back and forth. Back at the tent Qulitalik sends the young men out with fish spears to try their luck. The walk up the rushing river is exciting but treacherous. Fish are hiding. It's easy to fall in.

Igloolik, Fall-Winter 1946. Sitting around the stone house carving a harpoon, Qulitalik starts talking about the year gone past. Everyone joins in with stories and laughter. Tea is boiling over the seal lamps, children playing on the caribou skin beds. Grandmother tells the old stories, everybody has a new one. Home is warm and cozy.… Read more

Ajainaa! features Igloolik Elders discussing their views of contemporary Inuit life. Topics include 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. Written, produced, and performed by Isuma's Uqallangniq Elders Group.