December 14, 2022 – Toronto – National Film Board of Canada

Tanya Tagaq and Chelsea McMullan’s National Film Board of Canada (NFB) feature-length documentary Ever Deadly is screening in Canadian cinemas beginning January 20, distributed by the NFB.

This national tour began in the fall with a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Now people across Canada will have a chance to enjoy this immersive music and cinema experience on the big screen. Ever Deadly weaves concert footage from one amazing performance by avant-garde Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq with stunning sequences filmed on location in Nunavut. The result is a film that seamlessly bridges landscapes, stories and songs with pain, anger and triumph, through the expressions of one of the most innovative musical performers of our time.

Confirmed cities include Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Iqaluit, Edmonton, Guelph, Victoria, Ottawa and more.

Theatrical Screening Schedule

• Opens January 20 at the Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto
  • Q&A with Tanya Tagaq and Chelsea McMullan, moderated by award-winning journalist and author Tanya Talaga, on January 21 at 8 p.m.
• Opens January 20 at the Cinéma du Parc in Montreal (English version)
• Opens January 20 at the Cinémathèque québécoise in Montreal (French version)
• Opens January 20 at the VIFF Centre in Vancouver
• Opens January 20 at the Astro Theatre in Iqaluit
• January 25 and 29 at the Metro Cinema in Edmonton

Plus special screenings on:

• January 28 at the River Run Centre, ArtsEverywhere Festival, Guelph
• February 1 at the Cinecenta in Victoria
• February 5 at the Asinabka Festival’s Unikkaaqtuarniq – Snowscreen, Ottawa
• February 22–26 at the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ Film Festival, Fort Simpson, NWT
• February 22 at the Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre, Revelstoke, BC

About the film

Ever Deadly by Tanya Tagaq and Chelsea McMullan (90 min)
Produced by Lea Marin, Anita Lee and Kate Vollum for the Ontario Studio in Toronto
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/ever-deadly

• Ever Deadly explores Tanya Tagaq’s transformation of sound with an eye to colonial fallout, natural freedom and Canadian history. We witness her intimate relationship with the Nuna—the Land—a living, breathing organism present in all forms of her improvised performances.
• Tagaq is an improvisational singer, avant-garde composer.
• and author from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuuttiaq), who now divides her time between Nunavut and Toronto. A member of the Order of Canada, a Polaris Music Prize and JUNO Award winner and recipient of multiple honorary doctorates, Tagaq is an original disruptor, a world-changing figure at the forefront of seismic social, political and environmental change.
• Toronto filmmaker Chelsea McMullan creates documentary, experimental narrative, and hybrid films that explore the work of leading international artists. McMullan’s first documentary feature, My Prairie Home, about transgender musician Rae Spoon, screened at Sundance 2014 and was named Best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver Film Critics Association Awards. Their 2022 film Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas won the Audience Award at VIFF.

Awards to date

• Special mention from the Canadian Documentary Jury, Vancouver International Film Festival, 2022
• Audience Choice for Best Canadian Documentary Feature at the Yellowknife International Film Festival, 2022

Rave reviews

• “Any fans of Tanya Tagaq, the beloved Inuk throat singer, will relish the opportunity to watch the star in her element in this intense and emotional movie.” – Aly Laube, NEXT Magazine
• “Ever Deadly does an amazing job of capturing how powerful Tagaq is on stage, but it also captures how her life, her family, her people, her activism, her humour, her anger, and her passion all come together in her art.” – Sarah Kurchak, The Canadian Crew
• “If you’ve ever seen Tagaq perform you’ll know exactly why you should see this, but if you haven’t, it’s time for you to experience it.” –Daniel Garber at the Movies, com and CIUT 89.5 FM

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French version here | Version en français ici.