Igloolik filmmaker earns latest honorary degree
Zacharias Kunuk accepts accolades from University of Toronto; another honorary degree coming this fall
Igloolik filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, centre, smiles during a June 19 ceremony at the University of Toronto where he was given an honorary doctorate degree. He is seen with Jesse Wente, left, and university chancellor Wes Hall, right. (Photo by Lisa Sakulensky, courtesy of the University of Toronto)
Igloolik filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk received his third honorary degree last month, this one from the University of Toronto.
Kunuk was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Canada’s largest university in recognition of his excellence in arts and entertainment during a ceremony June 19.
“It’s my third. I’m really excited,” he said in a phone interview shortly after the ceremony.
His second honorary degree, announced last month, will be presented this fall by Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. He got his first honorary doctor of law degree from Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., in 2008.
Kunuk’s body of work includes Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, the first feature film to be written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut. It went on to win numerous accolades, including the Camera D’or at Cannes Film Festival in 2001.
“When you get to my stage, everybody knows you and wants to shake your hand,” Kunuk said. “Definitely there’s a larger audience now. When I go to speak at these graduation ceremonies, some of the students shake my hand. I love that.”
In a speech, Kunuk described growing up on the land, and gravitating toward the classic Hollywood movies screened in the Igloolik community hall when he was a child.
“The films I make, I make authentic,” he said during the speech. “One hundred years from now, when I am six feet in the ground, people will study these films.”
His reputation and name recognition have made it easier to make the films he wants to make, he said.
“It’s easier to get films financed now for me because over the years I’ve been building my name,” he said in an interview.
Kunuk is currently working on an eight-part documentary television series titled Fierce Prayer.
“The first episode is about how Inuit used to pray before Europeans ever came,” he said. “Episode two will be the whalers coming in to Baffin Bay, with Inuit starting to trade.”
As his trophy case fills up, Kunuk remains humble.
“I’m just doing my job and doing it right,” he said.
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