Home to the world’s largest collection of Inuit cinema and a leader in Canadian learning materials, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) will be at the katingavik inuit arts festival in St. John’s―the cultural component of the 20th Inuit Studies Conference (October 7 to 10)―to launch a new comprehensive interdisciplinary learning resource as part of the Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories initiative, as well as to preview upcoming new works by Inuit filmmakers Isabella-Rose Weetaluktuk and Echo Henoche.
“The NFB is committed to building sustainable initiatives with governments and communities across the North to provide creators with the resources they need to tell their own stories and share them with Inuit peoples and the rest of the country, in order to share knowledge and traditions, and build for the future. Our partnerships at the katingavik festival have deep roots: with the Nunatsiavut Government, a vital part of our landmark Unikkausivut initiative, and Memorial University, which played a key role in our legendary community media project, Challenge for Change. We’re excited to join with them and directors Isabella-Rose Weetaluktuk and Echo Henoche in sharing this richness with visionary Inuit creators and builders in St. John’s,” said Claude Joli-Coeur, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson.
Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Nunatsiavut land claims agreement, the NFB and the Nunatsiavut Government have completed work on an expanded Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories box set, which now includes six films from the Nunatsiavut region.
On October 8 at 10:45 a.m. at INCO Innovation Hall, participants will discover the NFB’s new Unikkausivut learning resource. With Inuit traditional knowledge and perspectives at its heart, it features lessons and activities that provide a more in-depth and critical analysis of Inuit culture and life in the Arctic. Each of Canada’s Inuit regions is represented with its own volume of films, with the learning guide available in six languages: four Inuktitut dialects, English and French.
Join NFB educational advisor Sophie Quevillon and Nunavik filmmaker Isabella-Rose Weetaluktuk as they discuss the NFB’s strong tradition of working with Inuit artists and show how Unikkausivut can immerse learners in the rich culture and traditions of Inuit peoples. Created in close collaboration with Inuit organizations and consultants, Unikkausivut was developed with the Inuit Relations Directorate of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Affairs Canada and the Government of Nunavut’s Department of Education.
The Unikkausivut–Nunatsiavut boxset will be released in the region this fall. The Nunatsiavut Government will have access to this body of works on its territory in institutions, organizations, schools, museums, community centres and libraries as well as a perpetual license to stream these films on these schools’ websites or on the Education Department’s designated website for non-profit education purposes.
New voices in Inuit cinema
On October 10 starting at 9:30 a.m. at SUNCOR Energy Hall, the public can join Inuit filmmakers Isabella-Rose Weetaluktuk and Echo Henoche, and NFB producer Kat Baulu, as the two young directors discuss working on their first films at the NFB.
Isabella-Rose will take the public behind the scenes of Three Thousand, her current film in production, a sci-fi documentary portrait of Inukjuak; while Echo talks about animating her first film, the legend of a polar bear who transforms into a mountain. Come and see their visual research, testing and sample scenes, as Isabella and Echo share their process from idea to production, and invite comments and questions to help develop and challenge their work.
For the festival’s iNuit Blanche all-nighter, Isabella-Rose is preparing an installation, while Echo is participating in a printmaking workshop. Echo’s short film will also be premiering in Nain in 2017 for the opening of the Illusuak Cultural Centre, part of the NFB’s commitment to developing new talent in the North.
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Associated Links
katingavik inuit arts festival
Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories
Nunatsiavut Government
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