The Journals of Knud Rasmussen unveiled this weekend

SARA MINOGUE

In the high school gym in Igloolik Saturday night, visiting politicians will give speeches, a community feast of caribou will be shared, and several hundred people will sit down as the first audience to watch Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn’s latest feature film, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.

That’s only a slightly different schedule from a similar event that will take place in Toronto in September, when international film stars gather to watch the premiere of Knud Rasmussen, after mingling on the red carpet outside, on opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival — one of the biggest and most prestigious cinema events in the world.

As with Atanarjuat, Kunuk wants to make sure that the people of Nunavut, Nunavik and Greenland have a chance to see the film, before it goes into the theatre circuit, out of reach of many Arctic communities that don’t have cinemas.

“I’ve seen the rough cut, but I’m looking forward to the full film,” said Paul Irngaut, who is coordinating the film’s Nunavut tour from Igloolik.

After three free screenings in Igloolik this weekend, the film will travel to the Baffin region, accompanied by an actor, a technician and a crew person to handle logistics. That team will head to the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions next, while a separate team will tour the film around Nunavik.

The film will visit 56 communities, including some in Greenland, and will include some short films made by Inuit filmmakers. Films will be shown using a DVD projector.

Contrary to what you might expect from the latest film title, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen focuses primarily on the story of the shaman Avva, whom the Danish explorer Rasmussen documented during his trip to the Igloolik area in the 1922.

Paul Kaludjak, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and Thomasie Alikatuktuk, president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, both planned to be at the Igloolik screening tomorrow night.