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Before Tomorrow: feature from Arnait Video Collective

Before Tomorrow premiered in Igloolik on the weekend of February 23rd, 2008. Members of the Arnait Video collective (Susan Avingaq, Madeline Ivalu, Carol Kunnuk et Marie-Hélène Cousineau) presented the film in front of attentive audiences on February 23rd and 24th. Props and select costumes from the film were also on display. As with previous films produced by Igloolik Isuma Productions, the film's first audience was the community involved in making the film. The producers are also planning a screening in Puvirnituq, Nunavik, where the film was shot.

Filmed between July 2006 and Janaury 2007, Before Tomorrow was directed by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu and adapted from the novel For morgendagen by the acclaimed Danish writer Jørn Riel.

A co-production of Igloolik Isuma Productions and Kunuk Cohn Productions, the project was the first feature from Iglooliks Arnait Video Productions collective, which has been gathering Inuit womens stories since 1991 to produce a varied and extensive filmography, which draws on cultural authenticity and community involvement.

Before Tomorrow is the story of a woman who demonstrates that human dignity is at the core of life from beginning to end, as she faces with her grandson the ultimate challenge of survival.

The film was shot in remote locations near the community of Puvirnituq, Nunavik (norhtern Quebec) over four separate periods in order to capture the seasons from June though December. Delivery was in January 2008. Before Tomorrow will be released by Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution in English Canada with Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm throughout Quebec. It will be distributed internationally through Isuma Distribution International.

Before Tomorrow is directed by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu from a script by Susan Avingaq, Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu. It is produced by Stéphane Rituit, with executive producers Norman Cohn and Zacharias Kunuk. Leading the cast are Madeline Ivalu and her grandson Paul-Dylan Ivalu, joined by Mary Qulitalik, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq and Tumasie Sivuarapik.

The founding mandate of Igloolik Isuma Productions was to empower Inuit voices to tell their own stories. To executive producers Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn it is appropriate that, continuing collaborations between the two teams over the past 15 years, Isuma's third feature be written and produced by the Arnait Video Collective. Isuma's first feature, Zacharias Kunuk's Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, won the Camera d'or at Cannes 2001 and Best Picture at Canadas 2002 Genie Awards. It's second, Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, opened the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was produced in association with Alliance Atlantis, Alliance Vivafilm, Telefilm Canada, SODEC, the Nunavut Film Commission and with the support of NITV. With thanks to Makivik Corporation,First Air, and Air Inuit. Thanks also to the people and mayor's office of Puvirnituq, the Nunavik Arctic Survival Training Centre, Kativik school board, and the Cooperative of Puvirnituq for their support.

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