Renowned Inuk film director Zacharias Kunuk will make his first-ever appearance in New Brunswick at Mount Allison University on Sunday, Feb. 5.
Kunuk, who is best known for his film Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), will be screening that film as well as a brand new project, Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change.
Qapirangajuq was co-directed by Ian Mauro, Mount Allison's Canada Research Chair in Human Dimensions of Enviromental Change. The film explores the social and ecological impacts of a warming Arctic through the eyes of Inuit elders and hunters, documenting their knowledge and experience of it as well as how they are adapting to it.
The documentary is the world's first Inuktitut language film on the topic of climate change.
"It's exciting that Zacharias is able to join us. It's a big trip for him and a real opportunity for Maritime communities to get to meet him and see his work, especially our newest film, Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change," Mauro says.
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) was the first feature film ever made in the Inuktitut language. It won the Caméra D'or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 and six Genie awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, in 2001. It also won numerous other awards and accolades, including being voted one of the most important Canadian films ever made by the Toronto International Film Festival. As a result of his work, Kunuk was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002.
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) will be screened in the Wu Centre at Mount Allison on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 2 p.m. Qapirangajuq will be shown at the Vogue Cinema in Sackville on Monday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. This is the first time the film has been screened in the Maritimes and Kunuk and Mauro will be on hand for a question-and-answer session after the screening.
"I'm looking forward to visiting the Maritimes, presenting my work, and discussing the importance of indigenous cultures, languages, and adaptations to climate change," Kunuk says.
Mount Allison is the first stop on a Maritime tour that will also take Kunuk and Mauro to Fredericton and Halifax. Qapirangajuq will be screened in 105 MacLaggan Hall at the University of New Brunswick on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. and in Ondaatje Hall in the Marion McCain Building at Dalhousie University on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.
Kunuk's trip was made possible through funding from Mount Allison University's Centre for Canadian Studies and the department of geography and environment, as well as support from the University of New Brunswick, Dalhousie University, and the New Brunswick Film Co-op.
All of the events are free and open to the public.
