Biographies

Producer – Director Director of Photography – Curator

MARIE-HELENE COUSINEAU formed the collective Arnait Ikajurtigiit (Women's Video Workshop, now Arnait Video Productions), and is its coordinator/trainer as well as an active collaborating producer. Cousineau has written about the experiences of women making video in Igloolik and curated several exhibitions of their work. Her video work has been widely exhibited in Canada, the U.S and Europe. With an MFA in Communications from University of Iowa, Cousineau was also associate professor of Communications at Concordia University in Montreal (1997-1999). She co-directed Before Tomorrow as well as Uvanga, the first and second Arnait feature-length films, with Madeline Ivalu.

 

Madeline IvaluDirector Executive Producer Cultural Advisor – Actor Writer – Musician

MADELINE IVALU has been a key elder participant in all the productions by the AVP since 1991. She was cultural advisor and interviewer for Women/Health/Body and Itivimiut as well as storyteller, musician, actor and writer for Qulliq, Attagutaaluk Starvation, Piujuq and Angutautuq and Unikausiq. She presented Arnait videos at Qaigit 1996 in Ottawa and in Montreal as well as Ottawa in 1997. She was part of the Pan Arctic Women Artists Workshop and is president of Naluat in Igloolik, a women's sewing collective. She represents Igloolik women to Paukktutit, the Pan-Canadian Inuit Women's organization. She co-directed Before Tomorrow as well as Uvanga, the first and second Arnait feature-length films, with Marie-Hélène Cousineau

 

Susan AvingaqExecutive Producer Director Writer – Actor  Musician

SUSAN AVINGAQ has been a regular participant in the collective since 1991. She was a key member of the production team for Qulliq, Attagutaaluk Starvation and Piujuq and Angutautuq as writer, actor and musician. A renowned seamstress/artist in the Baffin region she is also active locally in teaching sewing traditions to younger Inuit women. Susan was born on the land and moved into town in Igloolik in the mid-1970's, although her family still hunts and camps on the land part of the year.  She was the Art Director for Before Tomorrow as well as Uvanga and she is currently Co-Directing with Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Arnait's latest documentary SOL.

 

Carol KunnukCameraperson – Editor – Director

CAROL KUNUK assisted in the direction of Arnait’s first feature film Before Tomorrow and holds a support role as Sheba in Uvanga. She later went on to direct her fist documentary film Queen of the Quest. She has also worked as a television producer for the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation and the Nunavut Independent Television Network. She is the local coordinator of Arnait Video Productions in Igloolik.

 

Atuat AkkitirqCostume Designer – Cultural Advisor – Script Consultant – Actor

ATUAT AKKITIRQ was nominated for a Genie Award in the Best Costume Category for The Journals of Knud Rasmussen in 2007. She was also a supporting actress in Before Tomorrow. Beginning her career with Igloolik Isuma Productions in 1990, she starred in the lead role of the family elder for the internationally acclaimed 13-episode Nunavut (Our Land) Series. She also has worked as an actress, script consultant and cultural advisor as well as a supporting actress and costume designer for Atanarjuat - The Fast Runner. In 1991, she begun working with Arnait Video Productions as a script consultant and cultural advisor.

 

Mary Kunuk

Co-Producer – Co-Director

MARY KUNUK is a founding member of Arnait Video Productions. Artist, print-maker and video maker, Mary Kunuk received North West Territories Arts Council and Canada Council grants to produce several experimental videos using computer animation. These films have been shown in festivals and galleries around the world. Kunuk is also the Co-Producer and Co-Director of Ningiura, Arnait's first Telefilm-financed drama based on authentic oral histories, traditional knowledge and contemporary reality of Igloolik today.

 

About

08 December 2009

6909 ḵing gan

Ḵwaan sda: Arnait Video Productions