Unikkaaqtuarniq / Stories from the North / Contes du nord
— Asinabka Festival & Gallery 101 Presents —
Experience live music by Indigenous artists projected onto a screen made of snow — from the comfort of your own home, and live-streamed from the parking lot at Gallery 101. Enjoy Indigenous films from the circumpolar North, from the comfort of your own home, available through the Festival website for a 48 hour period of time only.
The word Unikkaatuarniq is an Inuktitut word that means "Storytelling". Storytelling is an ancient form of magic, with the power to connect the past with the present, teach lessons, impart values, heal, to explain the world and connect us to the universe through language and mythology. The stories, films, and music in this program, come from the Inuit people of Canada and Greenland, the Sami people of northern Scandinavia, and the Sakha people of Russia, Indigenous people who have thrived in the Arctic regions of the world for thousands of years, enduring the changing seasons of dark and light, of colonialism, and climate change. Although these cultures live thousands of kilometres away from each other, they share a common history of resilience in their language, culture and magic through storytelling.
* The live-streams are free and will take place on Facebook Live. The Films will be available on our website through the purchase of a ticket.
This event takes place online only, from the unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation. Chi-miigwech to our funders, the Canada Council for the Arts, and Heritage Canada.
Special Thanks to our partner Gallery 101 for hosting our Snow-Screen, G101 is a non-profit artist-run centre with charitable status dedicated to the professional presentation and circulation of visual and media arts. Each year, they present a stimulating array of solo and group exhibitions of Canadian and international artists.
Geronimo Inutiq
Facebook Live - Friday Feb. 25, 2021 @ 7:30pm
Geronimo Inutiq was born in what was Frobisher Bay, NWT (now known as Iqaluit, Nunavut), and now based in Montreal, he is known for being an electronic music and multimedia artist, as well as a DJ. He is orignator and innovator of the 'inukstep' style, and formerly known as 'madeskimo' - deftly combining experimental and dance music with flourishes of inuit and indigenous cultural representation. He also does video work which are sometimes presented with his music in performances and art exhibits.
Learn More
This livestream is FREE and available on the Asinabka Festival's Facebook Page. Join us online to watch the show!
Silla and Rise
Facebook Live - Saturday Feb. 26, 2021 @7:30pm
Silla and Rise are an Ottawa, Canada based Trio blending Inuit throat-singing and futuristic dancefloor beats. Their name comes from the Inuktitut word 'Sila' meaning weather. Sila is what surrounds us; it is what connects us to our land, to the moon, sun and stars, the ocean and the air we breathe. In respecting and honouring the need to preserve Inuit culture and paying homage to our land and the strong connection to its spirituality, they experience and perform the sounds of traditional and contemporary throat songs. Rise is Ottawa’s Rise Ashen, a Juno Award nominated global-grooves producer, DJ and dancer who has spent his life pursuing the intersection of traditional and futuristic music.
Learn More
This livestream is FREE and available on the Asinabka Festival's Facebook Page. Join us online to watch the show!
In the Shadow of the Tugtupite
In the Shadow of the Tugtupite
In the Shadow of the Tugtupite
Inuk Jørgensen
7m | Greenland | 2020 | English, Kalaallisut
A cinematic portrait of despair and anxiety towards an unknown future for the Inuit of the world's largest island. The film questions the rationale behind past and future mining prospects in Greenland and how they are linked to the search for identity of the fledgling nation in a post-colonial world.
Updated
In the Shadow of the Tugtupite
In the Shadow of the Tugtupite
Nivi Pedersen
17m | Greenland | 2020 | Greenlandic, w/ Eng. Subs
-Content Warning: Scenes of violence, and adult themes-
Anna's son, Miilu, is discussing with his fiancé if Anna should attend their wedding or not. Anna suffers from hallucinatory dementia but is already a user at e-Na, a helping equipment for people with dementia and their relatives. An update will enable them to help her better when frightening hallucinations occur and will make it possible to have her at their wedding. So why shouldn't Miilu update Anna's e-Na equipment?
Naja
Tupiq A.C.T. Of The North
Tupiq A.C.T. Of The North
Marc Fussing Rosbach
5m | Greenland | 2020 | No Dialogue
Naja (Little sister) is a fantasy short film that tells a young girls death and her journey through shock and grief. After an traumatic experience Naja ran away from home as she runs away from the reality that she couldn’t accept. As she ran her ancestors follow her, through the northern lights. She meets two small spirits that wanted to help her move on to the other world (silap aappaa). She couldn’t move on until she accepts her death.
Tupiq A.C.T. Of The North
Tupiq A.C.T. Of The North
Tupiq A.C.T. Of The North
Aibillie Idlout and Michael Napatuq
5m | Canada | 2019 | English
In this documentary short, two young Inuit circus performers from the community of Inukjuak, and members of Tupiq A.C.T., team up to showcase Inuit culture from the Hudson Coast.
Cuisine Du Nord (Northern Cuisine)
Cuisine Du Nord (Northern Cuisine)
Cuisine Du Nord (Northern Cuisine)
Mina Rita Niviaxie
5m | Canada | 2019 | English
In this documentary from Inukjuak, and Inspired by Chef Paradis, “Cuisine du Nord” shows people in the North connecting through food.
Higher Heights
Cuisine Du Nord (Northern Cuisine)
Cuisine Du Nord (Northern Cuisine)
Deseray Cumberbatch
3m | Canada | 2019 | No dialogue
In this short documentary from the community of Inukjuak, the filmmaker demonstrates her athleticism, Inuit culture, and profound resilience through Arctic Games. Through this sport, Deseray conquers her doubts, and reaches for greater heights.
This is Fiction-19
Marja Bål Nango and Ingir Bål Nango
16m | Norway | 2020 | Sámi/Norwegian w/ Eng. Subs.
-Content Warning: Course language and adult themes-
An alcoholic Sámi lady is alone in her cabin on the countryside during the covid-19 pandemic. She discovers that someone has drawn on her cabinwall and she calls people to find out who did it. The pandemic has gotten on her nerves and as she begins drinking her mental state starts to unravel...
Pilluarneq Ersigiunnaarpara
Nivi Pedersen
1h 10m | Greenland | 2020 | Greenlandic w/ Eng. Subs
-Content Warning: Topics of abuse and mature subjects-
Pilluarneq Ersigiunnaarpara is a documentary about two people who have both been exposed to sexual abuse during their childhood. Gukki Nuka (53) is an artist and is now going back to his hometown Uummannaq where the abuse of him took place. Kornelia (24) is struggling anxiety today but has broken the vicious circle and is fighting to get a life with the freedom she herself wanted as a child. Freedom to dream and freedom to fight for a secure life. A freedom that both Gukki Nuka and Kornelia have dreamt of.
Akornatsinniittut - Tarratta Nunaanni (Among us - In the land of our shadows)
Akornatsinniittut - Tarratta Nunaanni (Among us - In the land of our shadows)
Akornatsinniittut - Tarratta Nunaanni (Among us - In the land of our shadows)
Marc Fussing Rosbach
1h 32m | Greenland | 2019 | English Subtitles
Greenlands first fantasy feature film is an adventure story inspired by Inuit culture and mythology.
It follows the main character Nukappi on his journey as he discovers his Inuit culture and the stories of his ancestors. Nukappi discovers that he is an Angakkoq (Shaman) like his grandfather before him.
Darkness is coming and Nukappi must save his hometown of Ilulissat.
The Sun Above Me Never Sets
Akornatsinniittut - Tarratta Nunaanni (Among us - In the land of our shadows)
Akornatsinniittut - Tarratta Nunaanni (Among us - In the land of our shadows)
Lyubov Borisova
1h 48m | Sakha Republic, Russia | 2019 | Yakut w/Eng. subtitles
Altan gets a job on a desolate island. Unsure and alone, Altan discovers he has a neighbour – elderly Baibal with a special request. Baibal is ready for death and asks the boy to bury him near his wife's grave when he dies. Afraid, everyday Altan does everything to make the old man look forward to living another beautiful day.
There Is No God but Me
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
Dmitry Davydov
1h 55m | Sakha Republic, Russia | 2019 | Yakut & Russian w/ Eng. subtitles
A subtle and intimate portrait of a mother-son relationship. This film tells a heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, and very recognizable story about family, illness, life and death. 40-year-old Ruslan lives with his mother Maria in a small village in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Everyday life becomes more and more challenging as his mother's Alzheimer's becomes more prominent, and they are eventually forced to move to the city. Through everyday events, the film explores universal emotions, tensions, and relationships.
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
Zacharias Kunuk
2h 41m | Canada | 2001 | Inuktitut, w/ Eng. subtitles
- 20th Anniversary Screening -
- Rated R for some sexuality/nudity and violence -
Voted Number One, All-Time Top Ten Canadian film in a poll conducted by the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. An exciting action thriller set in ancient Igloolik, the film unfolds as a life-threatening struggle of love, jealousy, murder and revenge between powerful natural and supernatural characters.
Atanarjuat is Canada's first feature-length fiction film written, produced, directed, and acted by Inuit. "It demystifies the exotic, otherwordly aboriginal stereotype by telling a universal story" (Zach Kunuk).