“Extraordinary Arctic” festival starts April 4 at Ottawa’s Museum of Nature

This polar bear on a cloud-like iceberg promotes the Canadian Museum of Nature’s month-long “Extrordinary Arctic” festival, which runs from April 4 to April 28.

A selection of some of the National Film Board’s finest works will screen at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa this month during the museum’s “Extraordinary Arctic” festival.

That’s just part of a month-long festival at the museum which also includes storytelling, performing arts and presentations to highlight Inuit culture, scientific research and adventure and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1913-1916 Canadian Arctic Expedition.

Among the many events to take place at the museum from April 4 to April 28: “Arctic Armchair Experiences” lectures with polar adventurers, “Arctic Discoveries” talks with scientists, and “Arctic Expressions” hands-on activities with storytelling, Inuktitut lessons, drum dancing, throat singing and traditional games.

Twenty-four NFB films will be screened during the festival, including new and classic documentaries as well as animated shorts from Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut and the Inuvialuit region.

On April 11 at 7:30 p.m., you can see a new NFB feature documentary, Vanishing Point. Directed by Stephen A. Smith and Julia Szucs, Vanishing Point tells the story of two Inuit communities on Baffin Island and in Greenland, which are linked by the migration led in the late 1800s by the shaman, Qidtlarssuaq.

In the film, Navarana, an Inughuit elder and descendant of Qidtlarssuaq, goes on hunting trips with families from the two communities. She discovers that while the two groups share common values, they are adapting differently to outside influences and to changes affecting their way of life, says information about the film.

Vanishing Point will be shown in its Inuktun version, with English subtitles.

Children and families can also enjoy an interactive “igloo experience” at the museum over three weekends during April.

Using the NFB’s classic How to Build an Igloo as inspiration, “Build an Igloo” will allow kids and parents to create a life-sized shelter.

Offered April 6 and April 7, April 13 and April 14, and April 20, 21 and 22 (Earth Day) in the rotunda of the museum, this activity will include screenings of How to Build an Igloo, as well as projections inside the igloo structure.

The Extraordinary Arctic festival is organized by the Canadian Museum of Nature with the NFB, Students on Ice, the National Arts Centre’s Northern Scene festival, the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre and Nunavut Sivuniksavut.

For complete details, visit the Canadian Museum of Nature website or call 800-263-4433 or 613-566-4700.