Isuma turns lens on urban Inuit

Igloolik Isuma Productions plans to build on the success of Atanarjuat: the Fast Runner, with a new project that looks at the lives of modern-day Inuit.

Last week, shooting wrapped up on Qallunajatut (Urban Inuk), an Igloolik Isuma co-production with the Montreal-based Kunuk-Cohn Productions, Inc.

“When we used to live in the outpost camp, we called people who went to get supplies at the Igloolik trading post qallunajatut,” director Zach Kunuk says in his explanation of the documentary’s title.

By following several Montreal-dwelling Inuit from different generations and communities in Nunavut and Nunavik, Qallunajatut (Urban Inuk) looks at the urbanization of Inuit who are moving away from the land and the North.

According to the Association of Montreal Inuit, 750 Inuit from Nunavut and Nunavik now call Montreal home.

This film about urban Inuit was a project that first-time director, producer and script-writer Jobie Weetaluktuk, who came to Montreal from Nunavik 10 years ago, could embrace.

“This idea was already in the works when I got here, but something I was also interested in doing,” said Weetaluktuk in an interview from Montreal.

Qallunajatut will take viewers through struggles with substance abuse, alienation, homelessness and unemployment. It will also look at how the traditional Inuit strengths and values of sharing and friendship endure in the city, through events such as the monthly community feasts organized by AMI, or the construction of an inuksuk at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

The film also focuses on the dreams that drive Inuit in the city, such as Jacob Partridge’s goal of making a kayak, Lisa Koperqualuk’s ambition of climbing Mount Everest or Charlie Adams’ desire to go fishing again near his home community of Inukjuak.

The filming opened Weetaluktuk’s eyes to Montreal and Inuit who live there.

“There are some scenes that have made me cry. When you know somebody, and you watch them, there’s always more emotion attached.”

The documentary also travelled north to contrast life out on the land with urban life.

In addition to Weetaluktuk, the Qallunajatut production team also includes co-writer Jayson Kunnuk; François Beauchemin, Natar Ungalaaq (who played Atanarjuat in the film) and Marie-Hélène Cousineau on the camera; producers Katarina Soukup and Paul Quassa; and as executive producers, the prize-winning team of Norman Cohn and Zach Kunuk.

Shot in cinema-verité style, to represent life just as it is, Qallunajatut features in-depth interviews with its six main characters.

Weetaluktuk now has 35 tapes to review, and somehow compress into one hour.

“That’s the challenge,” he said. “We have a lot of very good stuff; that’s why it’s going to be important to find the best. Koperqualuk’s victory [so she qualifies for a place on a team bound for Mt. Everest], I’m sure I want to keep it. And, from different people, there are things I really want to keep, like the follow-up interview I did with Charlie, his wanting to go fishing at a particular lake, known as Charlie’s lake.”

After the final script and edit are wrapped up, the film’s unique soundtrack will be created. In 2003, co-writer Kunnuk and producer Soukup recorded sounds near Igloolik, such as cracking ice, migratory birds, wild animals, and flowing rivers, which will be used throughout Qallunajatut.

Each character in the film will also have a special “sound signature” that will weave in and out of his or her story.

The documentary’s musical score will also feature traditional ajaja songs from Nunavut’s Ammituq region, as well as original music by Charlie Adams, including a song about life in Montreal. Elisapie Isaac and Alain Auger of the duo Taima will also contribute to the soundtrack.

Qallunajatut should be ready in the spring, and will air on the Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network sometime next year.

Igloolik Isuma Productions is also working on several other productions, including a movie on the journals of Knud Rasmussen and three other feature length films.