“Sg̱aawaay K’uuna (Edge of The Knife)” selected for Canada’s Top 10 Films of 2018
MONTREAL (December 5, 2018) - Isuma Distribution International is pleased to announce that “Sg̱aawaay K’uuna (Edge of The Knife)” has been selected for Canada’s Top 10 Films of 2018 by the Toronto International Film Festival.
“Sg̱aawaay K’uuna (Edge of The Knife)” was also named one of “Best of 2018” by the Vancouver International Film Festival, and won Best Canadian film, Best BC Film, and Most Popular Canadian feature at VIFF and the Sun Jury Prize at ImagineNative Film and Media Festival in October.
Co-directed by Helen Haig-Brown (“The Cave”, “My Legacy”) and Gwaai Edenshaw, “Sg̱aawaay K’uuna (Edge of The Knife)” is the world’s first feature film created entirely in the Haida language.
[“Edge of the Knife”] “...challenges the cast to wrap their tongues around words they don't know…[but] their emotional performances overcome in a film stacked with stunning imagery, where the natural and mythical get tangled.”
-Review: Now Magazine
With less than 1% of Haida being fluent in their ancestral language, “Sg̱aawaay K’uuna (Edge of The Knife)” was envisioned to support the Haida language, create local employment, and promote Haida culture by bringing an ancient Haida story into a new space using the medium of film.
The creation of “Sg̱aawaay K’uuna (Edge of The Knife)” required a community-led collaborative effort. It was inspired by Isuma’s community-based filmmaking model for indigenous-language media production. In consultation with local elders, language and script workshops for participants of all ages were essential to the process, with a predominantly Haida cast and crew working on the production.
“Sg̱aawaay K’uuna (Edge of The Knife)” is the result of a unique 4-year collaboration between the Council of The Haida Nation, Skidegate Band Council, Old Massett Village Council, the University of British-Columbia, and Isuma Distribution International with Zacharias Kunuk as executive producer and mentor.
Specializing in indigenous-language media production and community-based filmmaking, Isuma Distribution International was co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn, the team behind the award-winning films, “Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner”, “The Journals of Knud Rasmussen”, and “Maliglutit (Searchers)”.
To learn more, please visit www.isuma.tv or https://www.facebook.com/isumaTV/.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Media Inquiries
Cecilia Greyson
Isuma Distribution International
Cell: 1 (902) 401-0158
Email: cecilia@isuma.tv
Distribution Inquiries
Sam Cohn-Cousineau
Isuma Distribution International
Office: 1 (514) 486-0707
Email: sam@isuma.tv
