An archive of radio stories transmitted from the set during the making of The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, Igloolik Isuma Productions' second feature film and part of The Fast Runner Trilogy.
The sets for Atanarjuat were all authentic Inuit dwellings, made from
traditional natural materials such as ice blocks, animal skins, rocks, sod, and
snow. Igloos, for instance, were crafted from real snow blocks - not styrofoam
as in some Southern productions about life in the Arctic!
In the film, this qamutik (sled) belongs to Atanarjuat. It is made of
caribou antlers and bone carefully laced together with sinew cord. Water is
drizzled on the runners until it freezes, then made slick with a scrap of fur
so that travel over the ice and tundra is swift and smooth.
Iggak (caribou goggles) are carved from the antlers of the animal. They were
worn to protect the eyes from the harsh glare of sunlight reflected on the ice
and snow in the Arctic.
The filmmakers assembled a group of talented local artisans to re-create the
props used in Atanarjuat.
They were led by head prop-maker and artistic director James Ungalaaq, an
internationally renowned Inuit sculptor from Igloolik whose work is in numerous
museum collections of Inuit art worldwide
