An inspiring afternoon: Women and Media Making
This afternoon we had an amazing meeting in the Astro Theater; 6 filmakers talked about their work, their inspiration, the audience they want to reach and the technologies and skills they have to tell their stories. Alethea Aggiuq Arnaquq-Baril screened "Inuit High Kick" and a beautiful animation film, (which title I miss right now but will find it for you). She talks strongly about reaching a young audience with her films. Her next project: a documentary about the impact of the seal ban on Inuit businesses. She will co-produce this one with Stacey Aggluk McDonald (on the picture here) and a company from Montreal.
Stacey discussed how important the revival of drum dancing is important in the community where she is from, Kugluktuk; she is participating to this revival by filming rehearsals, discussions and researching all different forms of drum dancing from the area and the circumpular region; check her out in Iqaluit where she might also offer some workshops.
Martha Flaherty gave a very heated speech about how she had to heal herself from the pain of relocation and residential schools before being able to embark in the journey of co-writing the script of Martha from the Cold with Marquise Lepage. The film plays tonite at the one night film festival where people can also see Before Tomorrow with Igloolik elder Madeline Ivalu presenting it.
Carol Kunnukamazed us with her experience on the land, filming The Queen of the Quest, a portrait of Denise Malliki, a truely inspiring young woman, a dog master who year after year runs the race across two different communities of Nunavut (and often wins!) This was a work-in-progress and we can only hope to see the final film.
Myna Ishulutak, originally from Pangnirtung, but now in Iqaluit, will present shorts tonite at the festival. Her inspiration comes from wanting to show her kids the life she herself had on the land, growing up in an outpost camp. She is interested in traditionnal skills and her films had a very methodic quality; you can learn how to do things by watching, a quality of how Inuit pass on knowledge.
It is pretty clear that the development of media, films, internet, is ABSOLUTELY essential in Nunavut, the land of story-telling.
