Solomon Uyarasuk film gets Nunavut screening next week

Arnait Video Productions’ SOL tells the story of Solomon Tapatia Uyarasuk (left), a 26-year-old musician and Artcirq performer who, in 2012, died while in police custody. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ARNAIT VIDEO)

A documentary film about Solomon Uyarasuk — the young Igloolik artist found dead in a local RCMP detachment cell in 2012 — will get its Nunavut premiere in Iqaluit next week.

Sol, an Arnait Video Production feature by filmmakers Susan Avingaq and Marie-Hèlene Cousineau, had its world premiere at the imagiNATIVE film festival in Toronto last October.

But the Jan. 28 screening at the Astro Theatre in Iqaluit will be the first time the film has been shown in Nunavut — an important benchmark, Cousineau said.

“I think it’s more than about time that we’re showing it in Nunavut,” said Cousineau from her Montreal office Jan. 21.

Because the film deals with Nunavut’s high suicide rate — depicting a family and community struggling to cope with the death of a young man with a promising career — Cousineau approached the Embrace Life Council to help organize the Iqaluit event.

Many believe Uyarasuk died by suicide.

But a coroner’s inquest into Uyarasuk’s death held last November categorized Uyarasuk’s death as “undetermined.”

The coroner’s jury also recommended police reopen the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death — no one saw what happened and there were no security cameras operating at the time.

An undetermined death means there isn’t enough evidence to categorize it as anything else — such as a suicide, for example.

The coroner’s jury deemed, however, that Uyarasuk died of “asphyxiated hanging” after he was found suspended two feet off the ground, hanging from his own belt inside a cell at the local RCMP detachment.

With the help of the Embrace Life Council, Cousineau plans to have a moderated discussion period after the film is over.

“It’ll be open, people can say whatever they want,” Cousineau said.

“It’s not something that’s usual for Inuit, to discuss a film after seeing it… but I’m hoping that people can feel they can talk, actually, that they’re welcome to talk.”

Cousineau will be on hand to field questions about the film after the screening.

And Nunavut rapper Brian Tagalik, who performs a moving song in the film and opens up about his own experience with suicide, will be on hand as a presenter as well, Cousineau said.

Although this is the first screening in Nunavut, Cousineau hosted a December screening at the Montreal office of Nunavik’s Avataq Cultural Institute.

“It was very touching to see the reaction,” Cousineau said.

“We opened the floor, asked people to discuss and comment, and I could see that it was emotional for people. People thought this film had to be seen.”

Cousineau admits she’s a bit nervous about how the film will be considered by a homegrown audience but hopes that ultimately, it will be screened in other Nunavut communities as well — including in Igloolik where she expects the film to be shown in February.

“If some community wanted to organize a screening, they should tell us,” she said.

The Toronto International Film Festival selected Sol as part of its Canada’s Top Ten Film festival — a group of feature films currently touring the country.

It will also be shown at a women’s film festival in France in March.

The film is expected to be broadcast by Super Channel, probably either later this year or early next year.

You can catch the Iqaluit screening at the Astro Theatre Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

Admission is by donation and proceeds will be given to the Embrace Life Council.