Nunavut’s Inuit-style western film up for Canadian screen awards

Joey Sarpinak plays Kupak in Zacharias Kunuk’s Maliglutit (Searchers) which received two Canadian Screen Awards nominations this week. (PHOTO COURTESY KINGULIIT PRODUCTIONS INC.)

Igloolik filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk’s latest feature film Maliglutit is up for two 2017 Canadian Screen Awards, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced Jan. 17.

Maliglutit, or Searchers as it’s known in English, received two nominations: for Best Motion Picture and another for Original Screenplay.

The 90-minute feature film is loosely based on an old John Wayne film called The Searchers. Kunuk’s version has been referred to as an Inuit-style western.

The story is a tale of kidnapping, murder and revenge, set around Baffin Island in 1913. The film, starring Benjamin Kunuk, Jocelyne Immaroitok and Karen Ivalu, was largely shot around Igloolik in March 2015.

Kunuk directed the film with the help of co-director and actor Natar Ungalaaq. Maliglutit premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last September.

Winners will be announced at the Canadian Screen Awards gala March 12 in Toronto.