Four Inuit artists presented for the Canadian Screen Awards

Key takeaways: 

• Zacharias Kunuk, Nadia Mike, Jennie Williams, and Tanya Tagaq are heading.
• Jennie Williams is an Inuk photog and filmmaker from Labrador. Her movie Nalujuk Night has been selected for Best Short Documentary. 

Canadian Screen Awards nominees: 

Works by Inuit filmmakers, producers and creatives are being honored at the Canadian Screen Awards this year. 

One of the movies set for best animated short, Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman’s Apprentice, was by Zacharias Kunuk and made by Kunuk and Nadia Mike. 

Angakusajaujuq is regarding a young shaman who has to journey underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Blow, to discover why a member of her neighborhood has fallen sick. 

Kunuk, who stays in Igloolik, Nunavut, said he is “elite and excited” to have been designated for the award. 

“We’re scornful of what we’ve done,” he said. “And it’s a fantastic story, the true story of a young woman being taught to be a shaman. It’s a story I heard in the mid-1980s when I was beginning out.”

Also read: Singing, dancing to restart as Nunavut relaxes public health measures

Kunuk says he never has prizes on his mind while he’s performing on a movie: “You simply make the movie the best you can, and if people like it, you succeed.”

On the other hand, winning awards and doing well on the celebration circuit makes it easier to take on the following project. Kunuk, whose escape feature was the 2001 Cannes Caméra d’Or prevailing Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, says he has numerous more movies in his future.

“There’s a lot of other kinds of movies,” he said. “Some are women’s problems, kids’ issues. I like to work in my culture, looking into history, even prehistoric times.”

“I love to hear tales of how our ancestors used to live and how they went through tough times, good times. It’s a fondness I love.”

Jennie Williams’ film Nalujuk Night has been selected for Best Short Documentary.

Source – cbc.ca