Through a tapestry of reflection, rare footage and her own home, Inuk filmmaker Holly Andersen tells the little-known story of the forced relocation of an Inuit community from Hebron, north of Nain, to more southerly locations along the Labrador Coast. Although that painful disruption of 233 lives occurred more than 50 years ago, the repercussions of the move last to this day.
In 2032 an eight-year old boy, displaced by global warming, fends for himself as an environmental refugee in a hostile northern metropolis. Haunted by memories of flooding that left him homeless and orphaned, the boy forms an unexpected friendship with an Inuk ice carver who helps him confront his past.
In a small town in the Canadian Arctic, Ippik, a young Inuit woman, suffers in an abusive relationship. She starts to heal when she connects with other victims of violence and finds her voice.
The director goes back to her roots in Pangnirtung, amongst her family and community. It leads her to another journey: to Qipisa, the outpost camp from where they were uprooted.
Qallunajatut (Urban Inuk) follows the lives of three Inuit in Montreal over the course of one hot and humid summer.Only two generations ago Inuit lived in small, nomadic hunting camps scattered across the vast Arctic landscape. Since the 1950s, this traditional lifestyle has undergone an astonishing transition from Stone Age to Information Age, as Inuit first relocated (often by force) to government-run settlements, and, more recently, beyond the settlement into southern cities.
Ningiuksiak, an Inuk who lives in the settlement of Cape Dorset, is on a hunt with his family. On his way back to Cape Dorset, Ningiuksiak's snowmobile breaks down. Since he does not have the money to fix it he decides to leave his family and fly to the town of Frobisher Bay to make some money. Ningiuksiak's cousin in Frobisher Bay, Ashoona, a somewhat urbanized Inuk who makes his living as a construction worker or as a cab driver, has drifted away from hunting and the traditional way of life of the remote settlements. Ashoona takes Ningiuksiak in hand and helps him to get a job driving for the Nanook Taxi Company. Increasingly unhappy and bewildered, Ningiuksiak takes to spending his money on liquor and his time in seedy nightclubs. One night, half-heartedly trying to show that he is having a good time, he looks up and sees his wife. She has come to take him home to Cape Dorset.
Shot during three seasons, Kenuajuak's documentary tenderly portrays village life and the elements that forge the character of his people: their history, the great open spaces and their unflagging humour. Though Kenuajuak appreciates the amenities of southern civilization that have made their way north, he remains attached to the traditional way of life and the land: its vast tundra, the sea teeming with Arctic char, the sky full of Canada geese. My Village in Nunavik is an unsentimental film by a young Inuk who is open to the outside world but clearly loves his village. With subtitles.
Mosha Michael made an assured directorial debut with this seven-minute short, a relaxed, narration-free depiction of an Inuk seal hunt. Having participated in a 1974 Super 8 workshop in Frobisher Bay, Michael shot and edited the film himself. His voice can be heard on the appealing guitar-based soundtrack…. Natsik Hunting is believed to be Canada’s first Inuk-directed film. – NFB
It is taking decades for Canada to come to terms with its history in the Arctic, and with its relationship to all its indigenous people. “Kikkik” is the story of government mistakes and neglect, of starvation, murder, freezing death, but, in the end, a kind of justice that helps restore our faith in human decency. In 1958, the Inuit woman Kikkik was charged with murder and criminal negligence leading to the death of her child. Her trial and our visit back to the place and to Kikkik’s children confront us with a legacy that’s still a challenge for Canada.
