Two Arctic documentaries gain Canadian Screen Awards nominations

A scene from Okpik’s Dream, produced by Catbird Productions of Montreal, which features Harry Okpik of Quaqtaq and his relationship with traditional dog sledding and Nunavik’s Ivakkak race. (FILE PHOTO)

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)

Two documentary films released in 2015, one made in Nunavut and the other in Nunavik, have been nominated in the Best Documentary Program category at the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards, to be held March 13 in Toronto.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television nominated both Okpik’s Dream and SOL, the academy said in a news release issued Jan. 19.

Okpik’s Dream, by filmmakers Laura Rietveld and Katarina Soukup of Catbird Films, follows the personal journey that Harry Okpik of Quaqtaq took to reconnect with his cultural tradition of dog-sledding and his participation in Nunavik’s 600-kilometre Ivakkak dogsled race in 2013 and 2014.

SOL, a film by the women’s cooperative Arnait Videos in Igloolik, chronicles the death of local artist Solomon Uyarasuk, the impact of his death on the community, and the territory-wide struggle to deal with the country’s highest suicide rate.

SOL’s co-directors, Marie-Helene Cousineau and Susan Avingaq, also received nominations as best directors of a documentary program, while the film gained nominations for best original music, best sound and best writing for a documentary program or series.

Cousineau told Nunatsiaq News Jan. 20 that she felt sadness and pride upon hearing of the film’s nominations.

“I felt sadness because I keep thinking of Solomon and how his death was avoidable… I know a lot of people miss him. And I felt proud because it was a hard film to make, and meant a lot for the people involved in making it. I’m also proud because it’s Solomon’s voice that comes through the film,” Cousineau said in an email from Germany, where three Arnait Video films are showing at a festival, including SOL.

“I’m happy we were able to make Solomon shine through the film. That’s why the film touches people — because of him,” Cousineau added.

Uyarasuk died in 2012 while in RCMP custody in Igloolik. Jurors of a mandatory coroner’s inquest into Uyarasuk’s death, held in November 2014, recommended RCMP re-open the investigation into the young artist’s death.

The jury disagreed with the recommendation made by the RCMP lawyer at the inquest, refusing to categorize the death as a suicide.

“In my heart, I still think Solomon’s death could’ve been avoided,” said Cousineau, who raised her own son in Igloolik and knew Solomon well.

Being nominated for the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards means more people will hear Solomon’s story, she added.

“The more people who hear about him, maybe that will lead to change, so that similar deaths can be avoided. Maybe things will change for the better — that’s why we make films.”

The nominations also mean that Arnait Videos, and other filmmakers in Nunavut, are producing high-quality films.

“We are making professional films that can compete with anyone else in Canada,” Cousineau said.

The 2016 Canadian Screen Awards will be held March 13 at Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.