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Traditional stories (13)
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Atanarjuat the Fast RunnerZacharias Kunuk 2000 2 h 41 minThis adaptation of an ancient Inuit legend was filmed in Inuktitut and directed by Inuit filmmakers - making Atanarjuat the first feature film of its kind!
Set in Igloolik, in Nunavut, this is "a powerful drama, not a documentary," reminds the director Kunuk. "It demystifies the exotic, otherwordly aboriginal stereotype by telling a universal story." The clothes, spears, kayaks, sunglasses and dwellings were all painstakingly researched. "We show how our ancestors dressed, how they handled their dog teams, how they argued and laughed.. confronted evil and fought back."
Many enthusiastic viewers have compared this epic story to The Iliad. In the words of one movie critic, "If Homer had been given a video camera, this is what he would have done!"
In Inuktitut, with English subtitles. -
Arctic SongGermaine Arnattaujuq , Neil Christopher , … 2021 6 minIn this six-minute short, Inuit artist, storyteller and co-director Germaine Arnattaujuq (Arnaktauyok) depicts Inuit creation stories in all their glory. Arctic Song tells stories of how the land, sea and sky came to be in beautifully rendered animation. Telling traditional Inuit tales from the Iglulik region of Nunavut through song, the film revitalizes ancient knowledge and shares it with future generations.
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Lumaaq: An Eskimo LegendCo Hoedeman 1975 7 minLumaaq tells the story of a legend widely believed by the Povungnituk Inuit. The artist's drawings are transferred to paper, cut out, and animated under the camera. The result is Inuit prints in action. Dialogue, music and artwork make this film a total cultural transplant.
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The Man and the Giant: An Eskimo LegendCo Hoedeman 1975 7 minThis short film, in which a hunter is pursued, bound up and carried to a cave, tells the legend of a river, and of how fog came to the land. The story is enacted by Inuit using katadjak or throatsinging. The audience is locked in an alien world of sights and sounds where human activity seems propulsed by primeval forces.
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The Northern LightsAlan Booth 1992 47 minThis feature length documentary examines the phenomenon of the northern lights, aka the aurora borealis. Though scientists have advanced many theories in an attempt to explain it, mysteries still linger. Experience a visual panorama of animated legends and international space launches as indigenous people and scientists offer their perceptions of the wondrous northern lights.
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Nalujuk Unnunga (Inuktitut Version)Jennie Williams 2021 13 minNalujuk Unnunga takunnâvuk Kanittumik Kittainganattumik, ammalu ilangani itsinattotluni, Labrador Inuit piusituKagijanga. Januar 6-imi tamât pisimatlutik tâttumit Nunatsiavut unnungani, taikkua Nalujuit AlakkaKattavut sikummit. PisuKattajut maggonik niunnik atutlutik, kenangit sollu omajut, saunituinnait, ammalu sollu asianit silatsuamit pisimajut. Aputik tusattausok siKullujuk tutittaugami itigakkut tikivallialimmata: Inuit nunalimmit Nainimi.
KuatsâKattagaluappata, Nalujuk Unnunga piutsagijauvuk jâri tamât piniannigijauKattatluni, takutitsijuk ilangani KuvianattoKattavuk itsigiamut. TakutsausiaKattalungituk silatâni Nunatsiavummit, tamanna jâri tamât piniannik Kittainganattuk pivitsaKattisiKattajuk Inunnik, inosuttunik ammalu jârikKutujojunut, takutitsigiamut itsiKattangitonninginnik ammalu katiutigiamut nunalimmiungutlutik ullusiugiamut ilukkusigijaujumik ammalu piusituKagijaujumik.
Inuk taggajâliuttik Jennie Williams takutitsivuk piniannigijauKattajumik iluani tapvani kakillânattumik Kinnitautluni KaKuttautlunillu naittumik sanajausimajumut pitjutiKajumut ukiumi unnusautillugu asiKalugani.
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Nalujuk NightJennie Williams 2021 13 minNalujuk Night is an up close look at an exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying, Labrador Inuit tradition. Every January 6th from the dark of the Nunatsiavut night, the Nalujuit appear on the sea ice. They walk on two legs, yet their faces are animalistic, skeletal, and otherworldly. Snow crunches underfoot as they approach their destination: the Inuit community of Nain.
Despite the frights, Nalujuk Night is a beloved annual event, showing that sometimes it can be fun to be scared. Rarely witnessed outside of Nunatsiavut, this annual event is an exciting chance for Inuit, young and old, to prove their courage and come together as a community to celebrate culture and tradition.
Inuk filmmaker Jennie Williams brings audiences directly into the action in this bone-chilling black and white short documentary about a winter night like no other. -
Nunavut Animation Lab Qalupalik (Inuktitut Version)2010 5 minThis animated short tells the story of Qalupalik, a part-human sea monster that lives deep in the Arctic Ocean and preys on children who do not listen to their parents or elders. That is the fate of Angutii, a young boy who refuses to help out in his family's camp, opting instead to play by the shoreline. But one day, Qalupalik seizes him and drags him away. Angutii's father, a great hunter, must then embark on a lengthy kayak journey to try and bring his son home.
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Nunavut Animation Lab: QalupalikAme Papatsie 2010 5 minThis animated short tells the story of Qalupalik, a part-human sea monster that lives deep in the Arctic Ocean and preys on children who do not listen to their parents or elders. That is the fate of Angutii, a young boy who refuses to help out in his family's camp, opting instead to play by the shoreline. But one day, Qalupalik seizes him and drags him away. Angutii's father, a great hunter, must then embark on a lengthy kayak journey to try and bring his son home.
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The Owl and the Lemming: An Eskimo LegendCo Hoedeman 1971 5 minUsing life-like seal fur puppets, this animated short by Co Hoedeman tells the traditional Inuit tale of the owl and the lemming.
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The Owl Who Married a Goose: An Eskimo LegendCaroline Leaf 1974 7 minIn this short animation based on an Inuit legend, a goose captures the fancy of an owl, a weakness for which he will pay dearly. The sound effects and voices are Inuktitut, but the animation leaves no doubt as to the unfolding action. A story with the wry humor characteristic of many Inuit tales.
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Owl and the Raven: An Eskimo LegendCo Hoedeman 1973 6 minUsing life-like seal fur puppets, this animated short by Co Hoedeman tells the traditional Inuit tale of the owl and the raven. Why did the raven’s feathers turn jet-black? And what did the owl have to do with it?
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ShamanEcho Henoche 2017 5 minThis animated short tells the story of a ferocious polar bear turned to stone by an Inuk shaman. The tale is based on emerging filmmaker Echo Henoche's favourite legend, as told to her by her grandfather in her home community of Nain, Nunatsiavut, on Labrador's North Coast. Hand-drawn and painted by Henoche in a style all her own, Shaman is the first collaboration between the Labrador artist and the NFB.
