Skip to content
Accessibility
Social Change (24)
-
Amarok's Song - The Journey to NunavutMartin Kreelak & Ole Gjerstad 1998 1 h 15 minIn this feature-length documentary, three generations of the Caribou Inuit family come together to tell the story of their journey as Canada's last nomads. From the independent life of hunting on the Keewatin tundra to taking the reins of the new territory of Nunavut on April 1, 1999, we see it all.The film is the result of a close collaboration between Ole Gjerstad, a southern Canadian, and Martin Kreelak, an Inuk. It's Martin's family that we follow, as the story is told through his own voice, through those of the Elders, and through those of the teens and young adults who were born in the settlements and form the first generation of those growing up with satellite TV and a permanent home.
-
Canada's Reindeer1981 24 minIn 1935 a herd of 2,700 reindeer completed a five-year journey from Alaska to north of the Arctic circle. They were imported and re-settled by the Canadian Government in an effort to improve the economic conditions of the Inuit. This film is the story of the trek, the raising of reindeer for saleable meat, its effects upon the people, and the transformation of herding from a primitive art to one using modern technology. The film shows how an ecologically sound, make-work project that started as a gamble ended up a success, generating jobs and money for the local people.
-
Vignettes from Labrador NorthRoger Hart 1979 4 minThis short film from the Canada Vignettes series chronicles the history of Labrador's Inuit and the role of the Moravian missionaries.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused. -
Eye of the StormNigel Markham 1997 44 minA documentary about Nain, a Labrador Inuit community located near the world’s largest nickel and copper deposits. As commercial mining interests prepare to exploit the resources, local residents consider the potential environmental and cultural impact. Meanwhile longstanding Aboriginal land claims are unsettled.
-
Inuuvunga, I am Inuk, I am Alive (Inuktitut version)2004 57 minIn this feature-length documentary, 8 Inuit teens with cameras offer a vibrant and contemporary view of life in Canada’s North. They also use their newly acquired film skills to confront a broad range of issues, from the widening communication gap between youth and their elders to the loss of their peers to suicide.
-
Inuuvunga - I Am Inuk, I Am AliveBobby Echalook , Sarah Idlout , … 2004 57 minIn this feature-length documentary, 8 Inuit teens with cameras offer a vibrant and contemporary view of life in Canada's North. They also use their newly acquired film skills to confront a broad range of issues, from the widening communication gap between youth and their elders to the loss of their peers to suicide. In Inuktitut with English subtitles.
-
If the Weather PermitsElisapie Isaac 2003 27 minThis short documentary studies life in the village of Kangirsujuaq, Nunavik. In this community on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, children’s laughter fills the streets while the old people ponder the passage of time. They are nomads of the wide-open spaces who are trying to get used to the strange feeling of staying put. While the teenagers lap up Southern culture and play golf on the tundra to kill time, the Elders are slowly dying, as their entire culture seems to fade away.
Elisapie Isaac, a filmmaker born in Nunavik, decides to return to her roots on this breathtaking land. To bridge the growing gap between the young and the old, she speaks to her grandfather, now deceased, and confides in him her hopes and fears. Grappling with isolation, family relationships, resource extraction, land-based knowledges, the influence of Southern culture and the ongoing impacts of colonialism on Inuit ways of life, Elisapie Isaac offers a nuanced portrait of the North. -
Si le temps le permet (version inuktitut)2003 0 sDocumentaire personnel de l'artiste Élisapie Isaac. En pleine immensité boréale, au bord de la mer Arctique, un village : Kangirsujuaq, au Nunavik. Ici, traditions et modernité se croisent quotidiennement. Les rires des enfants habitent joyeusement les rues, les jeunes carburent à la culture « du Sud », alors que les vieux tentent encore de se faire à leur étrange sédentarité. Dans cette toundra à couper le souffle, la jeune cinéaste originaire de Salluit, maintenant installée à Montréal, décide de plonger au coeur de ses origines.
-
Labrador NorthRoger Hart 1973 37 minThis short documentary looks at the government relocation of the Labrador Inuit and the effects on their culture and social structures.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused. -
Mother of Many ChildrenAlanis Obomsawin 1977 57 minIn her first feature-length documentary, released in 1977, Alanis Obomsawin honours the central place of women and mothers within Indigenous cultures. An album of Indigenous womanhood, the film portrays proud matriarchal cultures that for centuries have been pressured to adopt the standards and customs of the dominant society. Tracing the cycle of Indigenous women’s lives from birth to childhood, puberty, young adulthood, maturity and old age, the film reveals how Indigenous women have fought to regain a sense of equality, instilled cultural pride in their children and passed on their stories and language to new generations.
-
Nowhere Land (Inuktitut Version)2015 14 minThis short documentary serves as a quiet elegy for a way of life, which exists now only in the memories of those who experienced it. Bonnie Ammaaq and her family remember it vividly. When Bonnie was a little girl, her parents packed up their essentials, bundled her and her younger brother onto a long, fur-lined sled and left the government-manufactured community of Igloolik to live off the land, as had generations of Inuit before them.
-
Nowhere LandRosie Bonnie Ammaaq 2015 14 minThis short documentary serves as a quiet elegy for a way of life, which exists now only in the memories of those who experienced it. Bonnie Ammaaq and her family remember it vividly. When Bonnie was a little girl, her parents packed up their essentials, bundled her and her younger brother onto a long, fur-lined sled and left the government-manufactured community of Igloolik to live off the land, as had generations of Inuit before them.
-
Our Northern CitizenJohn Howe 1956 30 minThis short documentary illustrates the impact of new developments on the Inuit of Baffin Island, as well as the local reaction to the decision to move the settlement of Aklavik across the Mackenzie River.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused. -
Our Land, Our TruthMaurice Bulbulian 1983 54 minMade in collaboration with the Inuit Tungavingat Nunamini, this film focuses on those dissident members of the Inuit community who rejected the agreement signed on November 11, l975, between the Northern Quebec Inuit Association, the Québec and federal governments, the James Bay Energy Corporation, the James Bay Development Corporation, Hydro-Québec and the Grand Council of the Crees, which took away Native rights to a territory of almost one million square kilometres. By their words and actions, the dissident Inuit of Povungnituk, Ivujivik and Sugluk express their strong desire to retain their land and their traditions. The filmmakers go into their homes, on the ice and the sea to record first-hand the lives of these northern people.
-
PangnirtungJohn Feeney 1959 29 minVisit the outpost community of Pangnirtung, located on the rim of the Arctic Circle, in this short documentary from 1959. Here, a handful of people provide for the health and welfare of a scattered Inuit population. The outpost, made up of nothing more than a cluster of buildings on a windswept fjord, has an influence that reaches far beyond its physical borders.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused. -
People of the RockClarke Daprato 1961 13 minThis film follows an Inuit family's journey to the North Rankin nickel mine. How the hunters became bulldozer and machine operators is explained.
-
Some Natives of ChurchillCynthia Scott 1973 27 minThis short documentary zooms in on Churchill, Manitoba, on the western curve of Hudson Bay. The town boomed for a while after it became the railhead seaport for the shipment of Prairie grain. It also changed the way of life of the First Nations and Inuit population. "Four levels of government," says one, "and the town's biggest industry is the liquor store." In this film, local inhabitants say what they think of the changes and why they decided to stay when others moved on.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused. -
SikusilarmiutPeter Raymont 1975 28 minSikusilarmiut is made up of excerpts from animation films made at the Kinngait (formerly Cape Dorset) Film Animation Workshop, interspersed with live-action footage of modern-day Kinngait. The contrast is uncomfortably evident.
-
A Step Towards the Arctic - Reflections and Visions of the NorthAnne-Marie Tougas 2012 52 minIn this feature documentary, Swiss citizen Yves Delaunay seeks to understand how the Inuit are coping with the mutation of the Arctic as it is caught in the violent sway of climate change. In Sachs Harbour, an Inuit village on the fringes of the Earth, he discovers a small community attached to its land, conscious of the importance of its traditions and culture, which struggles daily to face the challenges of modernity by way of carving out a place within it.
-
Unitas Fratrum: The Moravians in LabradorHubert Schuurman 1983 26 minThe Moravians, an early Protestant group, founded missions on the Labrador coast in the 18th century. Serving as a buffer between the Indigenous people and the whalers, the Moravians laid the basis for a new society that blended traditional European and Inuit cultures. This film shows a year in the life of the Moravian mission of Nain and describes some of the stresses the modern world has brought to this isolated Arctic community. Interviewed are a retired teacher who came with the last European mission, and the first Native Moravian minister. (Telecast in the Man Alive series under the title Band of Brethren.)
-
KatinniqStephen A. Smith & Julia Szucs 2012 1 h 22 minᕿᒧᔅᓯᖅ ᐅᓯᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᒡᕼᐅᐃᑦ ᐃᓚᒌᓂᑦ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᕗᑦ ᓯᕕᑐᔪᒃᑯᑦ ᓯᑯᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᑯᑭᑦᑐᓂᑦ. ᓯᑰᑉ ᐊᑖ ᐊᐅᑉᐸᓕᐊᑎᓪᓗᒍ --- ᕿᒻᒦᑦ ᒪᐅᕙᑉᐳᑦ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓂᕐᒥᓂ, ᐃᒫᓚᐅᖅᐸᑦᑐᑎ. ᓇᕙᕋᓇ, ᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᒧᑎᒥᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᖅ, ᐊᖏᕈᑎᖃᖅᑯᖅ ᓂᕆᐅᓇᓐᖏᑦᑐᓂᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᐸᓪᓕᐊᔪᓂᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᑕᓕᒫᓄᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᐅᒪᔪᓂᑦ.
1860-ᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᓇᕙᕋᓇᐅᑉ ᓯᕗᕚᖓ ᑕᑯᓐᓇᒐᖃᓲᖅ --- ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒻᒥᐅᑕᖅ, ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐊᑎᓕᒃ ᕿᓪᓚᖅᓱᐊᒥᑦ --- ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᐊᔾᔨᐅᖏᑦᑐᒃᑯᑦ ᑲᔾᔮᓇᖅᑐᒃᑯᑦ, ᓯᕗᒃᑲᑕᖅᑐᓂ ᐃᓅᖃᑎᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᑯᑭᑦᑐᓕᐊᖅᑐᑎ. ᑖᔅᓱᒪ ᐊᖓᒃᑰᑉ ᐃᓚᒌᓕᖅᑐᑎ ᑭᖑᕚᖃᓕᖅᑐᓂ ᓇᕙᕋᓇᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ ᑐᓴᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᓂᒃᑯᓪᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᐃᓪᓗᓂ. ᐊᕐᕌᒍᐃᑦ 150 ᐅᖓᑖᓄᑦ, ᓇᕙᕋᓇ ᕿᓪᓚᖅᓱᐊᑉ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᕕᒥᓂᖓᓂᑦ ᑐᔾᔭᐃᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᐅᑎᒧᖔᖅ ᑲᓇᑕᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐳᓚᕋᓕᖅᑐᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᐅᑕᓄᑦ ᐃᓪᓗᒃᑯᖏᓐᓄᑦ.
ᓇᕙᕋᓇ ᐃᓚᒥᓂ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᑐᓂ ᑕᒪᒃᑮᓂᑦ ᐊᑯᑭᑦᑐᕐᒥᐅᓂᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᐅᓂᓪᓗ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑕᒫᖅᓯᐅᑎᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᓯᕙᖃᑎᖃᖅᑯᖅ. ᑕᑯᔭᖃᖅᑯᕐᓗ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᓐᖏᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᑦᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ ᓯᓚᑎᒥᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕿᒪᐃᓐᓇᕋᔅᓴᐅᖏᑦᑐᓂᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᑐᓂᑦ ᐊᓯᕙᕐᓂᕆᕙᑦᑕᖏᑕ ᐱᔾᔪᓯᖏᓐᓄᑦ. ᐊᑐᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᑎᒍᑦ, ᓇᕙᕋᓇ ᓂᕆᐅᑉᐳᖅ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᔭᖅᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓪᓗᐊᑕᓂᑦ ᓱᓕᔪᓂᑦ ᓴᖅᑮᔪᒫᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓱᒪᓕᐅᕈᑎᑦᑎᐊᕙᐅᓗᓯ ᐊᓐᓇᐅᒪᓂᒃᑯᑦ.
ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᑯᖅ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᓄᓇᓖᒃ ᑲᓲᑎᕙᓐᓂᖏᓐᓄᒃ, ᓇᕙᕋᓇ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᓂᕆᐅᓐᓂᖃᕐᓂᒥᓪᓗ ᒪᑭᒪᔾᔪᑎᖃᖅᐸᑉᐳᖅ ᓯᕗᕚᖏᑕ ᐆᒻᒪᔾᔭᕆᓚᐅᕐᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᓇᒻᒥᓇᖅᑐᓂᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᒥᒍᑦ ᐃᓅᖃᑎᒌᓐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᕙᑎᓕᕆᓂᒃᑯᑦ.
Click here for the English version
Click here for the Greenlandic version, Katinngat -
Vanishing PointStephen A. Smith & Julia Szucs 2012 1 h 22 minThis feature documentary tells the story of 2 Inuit communities of the circumpolar north—one on Canada’s Baffin Island, the other in Northwest Greenland—that are linked by a migration led by an intrepid shaman. Navarana, an Inughuit elder and descendant of the shaman, draws inspiration and hope from the ties that still bind the 2 communities to face the consequences of rapid social and environmental change.
-
Katinngat2012 1 h 22 minIlaqutariit Inughuit qimussimik ingerlaarput Kalaallit Nunaanni sikumi isorartoorsuarmi. Ingerlaarfissualli aakkiartorpoq, qimmillu siku aserortertoq nakkarfigisarpaat, nakkarfigisarlugu Issittumi imartaq nilleqisoq.
Angalaqatigiinni utoqqartap Navaranap, akueriartuaalerpaa Issittumi inuiaat tamarmik allanngoriartornermik siornatigut aqqusaarsimanngisaannakkaminnik aqqusaarneqalersut. 1860-ikkunni Navaranap siulersua takorluuillaqqissorsuaq – angakkorsuaq Canadami Baffin Island-imeersoq, Qitdlarssuarmik atilik – angalanermut tusaamaneqaqisumut ilaavoq, naggueqatigiit Inuit Kalaallit Nunaannut ingerlaarnerannik kinguneqartumik. Tassa taassuma angakkorsuup nunassaminik ujaasinerata aakkut naggueqatigiinnerit uummaarissut, sakkunillu atortunillu ineriartortitsinerit, Navaranap siulianut nunassarsiortunut katinngaserpai. Ukiut 150-it sinnerlugit qaangiummata Navarana siulersuarmi nunaanut angalavoq, attaveqarfiginiarlugit Canadamiittut ungasissukkut illooraqqiutini.
Navaranapangalaqatigaiilaqutariitnunanisumiiffinnimarlunniassigiinngitsuneersut, ukiumoortumik piniariarlutik angalaneranni. Isiginnaarpai qanoq taakkua aatsigut naggueqatigiit Inuit, allanngorarnernut avataaneersunit sunniutaasunut, piniarnermilu ileqqutoqqanut sunniuteqartunut qimarratigisinnaanngisaminnut, assigiinngunik periuseqarlutik imminnut tulluarsartarsimanerat. Misilittakkani aallaavigalugit neriuuteqarpoq inuiaqatimi ataannarnissaanut matuersaat toqqagassanut eqqortunut ammaassisinnaasoq nassaarisinnaassallugu.
Navarana eqqarsaatersortinneqarpoq neriuuteqalersinneqarlunilu inuiaqatigiit taakkua suli imminnut ataqatigiinneraniit, minnerunngitsumillu siulersuarmi ersigisaqaratik angalasarsimasunit kingornussassaanit, ukiuni issittumi inuusut inuiaat oqaluttuarisaanerminni inuiaqatigiittut avatangiisitigullu aatsaat taama unammillerneqarnerisa nalaanni.
-
The Wings of Johnny MayMarc Fafard 2013 1 h 23 minThis feature documentary shines a spotlight on Johnny May, the first Inuit bush pilot in Nunavik—and a legend among his people. During the 34,000 hours of flight time he’s logged, May has lived through extraordinary adventures and has had a unique view of the transformation of the Arctic from his perch in the sky. He has watched as the Inuit went from nomadic life to a sedentary existence, and as climate change has melted the permafrost. But one thing remains constant: May’s deep love for his wife Louisa. Since his earliest days in the air, his plane has sported the same Inuktitut message for her: "Pengo Pally", which means “I miss you.” The Wings of Johnny May is an airborne documentary that highlights a unique culture through the eyes of an exceptional man.
