Utopian webdream built on 'viral anarchy of the internet'

Igloolik's Isuma film production family launched a bold new project late last month: a free web site that offers hundreds of hours of internet video made by indigenous filmmakers.

"It's a gift to the audience," said Norman Cohn of Isuma Distribution International Inc.

Called "Isuma TV," the site, which started Dec. 17, now holds more than 100 videos from Canada, Greenland, Sweden, and Mexico.

It's based on a utopian vision: to create the greatest audience possible for the work of indigenous filmmakers, no matter where in the world they live.

The site offers all of Isuma's output over the past 20 years, including all two hours and 41 minutes of their celebrated feature film, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, as well as The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, the popular "Nunavut" historical series and numerous documentaries.

Isuma TV also invites indigenous producers everywhere to upload their work for free. Anyone with a fast internet connection may view them for free for private use only.

They've already collected film and video work from Greenlandic, Sami, Dene and other First Nations filmmakers.

That includes selections from the well-known "Our Dene Elders" series done by the Native Communications Society of the Northwest Territories, Laila Hansen's children's show on TV Greenland and a selection of films shown at the Imagine Native arts festival.

Isuma pays no royalties to filmmakers who upload their work, but they do post information to help viewers who want to buy a film from a filmmaker or distributor.

Cohn said Isuma began with the idea of using the internet to put their work directly in front of viewers, bypassing established gatekeepers like APTN and CBC, who rarely, if ever, broadcast Isuma's work.

"We've never sold a show to CBC," Cohn said.

Then they decided to expand Isuma TV into a site that's capable of building a global community of like-minded filmmakers and audiences.

"Our job is to prove that the absence of Inuit and aboriginal filmmakers from the airwaves is not the fault of the filmmakers," Cohn said.

To pay the cost of building it, Isuma invested the last of its remaining capital. To pay the cost of running it, they're soliciting donations.

"We believe isuma.tv has value. Visit the site, see the range of voices and cultures shared, and this value should be self-evident and undeniable. Those who value something should pay for it," Isuma says.

To that end, the site features a "donate" button that allows viewers to contribute through Pay Pal.

But they will not finance their site with paid advertising.

"We hope to maintain at least one media space on the internet for indigenous content completely free of commercial influence," Isuma says.

It remains to be seen if this utopian scheme will work. But their site also says "progressive governments, international foundations, UNESCO and other human rights agencies" all share Isuma's goal, suggesting that if it's a success, funding ­agencies may agree to make donations.

"No one could have predicted the audience for You Tube before it happened, and no one can predict what films collect the largest audience on the viral anarchy of the internet," Isuma says.

Cohn points out that global sites like eBay and Facebook started small but grew because they created communities based on loyalty and shared interests.

On the other hand, Cohn says Isuma knows that Nunavut residents, who are likely among those most interested in using Isuma TV, still face barriers in gaining access to the site.

That's because internet service in most Nunavut communities, though better than in the past, is still too slow for viewing even low-speed versions of videos posted on Isuma TV.

That includes the struggling Qiniq network, which suffers from a severe lack of bandwidth.

"In Nunavut it costs $400 to get the equivalent of a $27 DSL connection in Montreal," Cohn says.

But at the same time he said he hopes the site will help demonstrate why aboriginal investors should put money into internet and new media.

To view Isuma TV, go to: www.isuma.tv.