Iqaluit mayor makes ‘North of North’ appearance

Fans of the TV comedy North of North, especially those living in Iqaluit, have likely recognized some of the faces and places seen on screen during the show’s first four episodes.

Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa plays a prominently featured character in the latest instalment of the Nunavut-based series, which aired Tuesday.

This week’s episode, titled Joy to the Effing World, follows the main character Siaja, played by Anna Lambe, as she takes on the responsibility of hosting her community’s elders’ night.

That is where the audience is introduced to Lazarus, Awa’s character, sitting alongside Elder Kuuk, played by Mathew Nuqingaq.

In a phone interview Wednesday, Awa described the episode as “awesome.”

He said that he, like many others involved in the show, auditioned and was selected for his part. While he is featured in several key scenes of the episode, Awa said he was on set for just “a short time.”

He described an overall positive impact the show’s production has had on the community.

“We know there’s lots of people involved, and that’s very great,” he said, adding that more people got involved, “not just from Iqaluit but other communities as well.”

Awa was not the only familiar face to appear in the fourth episode.

Alongside Nuqingaq, who is a celebrated artist in his own right, Iqaluit Coun. Simon Nattaq also appears in the elders’ night scenes.

Kuujjuaq’s Etua Snowball — artist, author and executive director of the Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre ­— was in this week’s episode as well, in the opening scene with the fictional hamlet’s senior administrative officer Helen, played by Mary Lynn Rajskub.

North of North airs Tuesdays on CBC and APTN, with episodes available to stream on CBC Gem and APTN Lumi. The show, co-created by Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, is set to stream globally on Netflix in the spring.