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Sports, Leisure and Games (9)

  • At the Winter Sea Ice Camp: Part 2
    At the Winter Sea Ice Camp: Part 2
    Quentin Brown 1967 36 min
    Filmed over a period of three years, from summer 1963 to the late winter of 1965, and released in 1967, the Netsilik series is about the traditional lifestyle of Netsilingmiut living in the area around Kuugaruk.

    In this episode, women watch over the children as they play, make clothes, and repair the igloos. When the men return with their catch, everyone goes inside where work, story-telling and games keep everyone busy.

  • First Arctic Winter Games
    First Arctic Winter Games
    Dennis Sawyer  &  R.C. Gibson 1970 25 min
    A short documentary film about the first Arctic Winter Games, held in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, in 1970. The inaugural edition of this international event was attended by more than 8,000 participants and spectators, including 750 Canadian athletes and 250 athletes from the US. The Games included many sports typically included in Olympic competitions, with a specific focus on Indigenous sports as well.
  • If the Weather Permits
    If the Weather Permits
    Elisapie Isaac 2003 27 min
    This 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)
    Si le temps le permet (version inuktitut)
    2003 0 s
    Documentaire 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.
  • Northern Games
    Northern Games
    Ken Buck 1981 25 min
    This documentary short depicts the traditional games of the Inuit as they are practised 800 km north of the Arctic Circle by youth in competition from communities across the North. The film describes the skills required to play them, the traditions behind the games, and the spirit of co-operation, as opposed to hard competition, that inspires the participants.
  • Schefferville 4th Arctic Winter Games
    Schefferville 4th Arctic Winter Games
    Dennis Sawyer 1976 26 min
    An exciting view of the Arctic Winter Games held in Schefferville, northern Québec, in 1976. The events range from table-tennis to curling, and include six indigenous arctic sports. The games spanned seven days of hard competition, as well as a week of sharing common northern experiences and good will. And, despite temperatures of -30C, the participants' enthusiasm created an atmosphere of great warmth, which we witness as the losers congratulate the winners, and the winners apologize.
  • The Second Arctic Winter Games
    The Second Arctic Winter Games
    Dennis Sawyer 1972 28 min
    The Games included many sports seen in Olympic competition, plus others--for example, pirautaqturniq, the Inuit skill of hitting an object with a ten meter-long sled dog whip. This film captures the all-out participation in the week-long events hosted by Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon, with competitors from all over the Arctic including Alaska, and with observers from the Soviet Union.
  • Stories from Our Land Vol. 2 - Strength, Flexibility, and Endurance
    Stories from Our Land Vol. 2 - Strength, Flexibility, and Endurance
    Allen Auksaq 2013 10 min
    This short film explores why Inuit games were more than just fun to pass the time; it required the athletes to be in peak physical condition to perform these ancient feats of strength.

    Stories from Our Land 2.0 is the latest edition of the NFB's Indigenous short film inititiative. This edition helped four Inuit youth hone the creative skills and tell their stories, offering viewers insightful perspectives on life in Nunavut.
  • Tuktu and the Trials of Strength
    Tuktu and the Trials of Strength
    Laurence Hyde 1967 14 min
    In this short docu-fiction film, strong and hardy Inuit hunters demonstrate and test their strength in boxing, tug-of-war, and other strenuous activities. We see and hear the drum dance, a demonstration of Inuit poetry and rhythm.