Inuktitut

  • Marie-Hélène Cousineau & Madeline Ivalu – Before Tomorrow (2008)

    2001-2010CanadaDramaMadeline IvaluMarie-Hélène Cousineau

    Two isolated families meet for a summertime celebration. Food is abundant and the future seems bright, but Ningiuq, a wise old woman, sees her world as fragile and moves through it with a pervasive sense of dread. Ningiuq and her grandson Maniq are dropped off on a remote island, where, every year, the family dries the catch and stores it for winter. The task is soon finished. As summer turns to fall, they wait in vain for the others to pick them up.Read More »

  • Zacharias Kunuk – One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019)

    2011-2020ArthouseCanadaDramaZacharias Kunuk

    Noah Piugattuk’s nomadic Inuit band live and hunt by dog team, just as his ancestors did. When the white man known as Boss arrives in camp, what appears as a chance meeting soon opens up the prospect of momentous change.Read More »

  • Jacob Grønlykke – Qaamarngup uummataa AKA Heart of Light (1998)

    1991-2000ArthouseDramaGreenlandJacob Grønlykke

    Jacob Gronlykke directed this $3 million Danish drama, the first production filmed completely in Greenland, with Inuit dialogue. The story begins with the 1947 ceremonies in which Greenland becomes part of Denmark; Danish king Christian X gives a ceremonial rifle to Greenland’s Niisi Lynge. A half-century later, Niisi’s son Rasmus (Rasmus Lyberth) still has the rifle, but past dreams have gone sour. The alcoholic Rasmus, married to aggressive Marie (Vivi Nielsen), has many problems because of his drinking, and so does his son Niisi (Knud Peterson), who drunkenly kills his brother’s girlfriend and then commits suicide. The grief-stricken Rasmus sets out across the frozen land on a risky hunting trip, and the film’s tone shifts from realism to satire as Danish female environmentalists make fun of his crude clothing and gear. A helicopter pilot lands and tries to talk Rasmus into turning back. In a folkloric vein, Rasmus encounters a hermit, the Qivittoq (Anda Kristiansen), who takes him into a mystical world for a reunion with his father. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.Read More »

  • Zacharias Kunuk – Atanarjuat AKA Fast Runner [+Extras] (2001)

    2001-2010CanadaDramaFantasyZacharias Kunuk

    Centuries ago, in what would become the Canadian Arctic, Atuat is promised to the malevolent Oki, son of the leader of their tribe. But Atuat loves the good-natured Atanarjuat, who ultimately finds a way to marry her. Oki’s sister, Puja also fancies Atanarjuat, and when she causes strife between him and his brother Amaqjuaq, Oki seizes the opportunity to wreak a terrible revenge on Atanarjuat.

    Apparently the first ever feature film to be made in the Inuktitut (Canadian Eskimo) language, this epic tale recounts the ancient Inuit legend of Atanarjuat.

    Set some thousand years ago in the settlement of Igloolik near the Arctic Circle, “Atanarjuat” relates how shamanic forces spark deep divisions within a community of nomadic Inuit.Read More »

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