Films with: Angilirq, Paul Apak

Arviq! Bowhead! /

For untold centuries Inuit hunted the huge bowhead, or 'right' whale, as a main source of food, heating oil and building materials, As with all animals, Inuit hunters take only what they can use. Starting in the 1700's until the close of the 19th century, commercial whalers from Europe and America wiped out almost the entire world's population of bowhead whales. In the mid-20th century, the Canadian government made the eastern Arctic bowhead hunt illegal, While Inuit were not responsible for the near-extinction of the the bowhead, they are still prohibited from hunting it like everyone else. In 1994 one of Canada's most respected Inuit elders - 95 year old Noah Piugatuk - announced that he wanted to taste the bowhead whale one more time before he died. Honouring the elder's wish, Piugatuk's son-in-law caught an illegal whale near Igloolik in September 1994. Afew months later, the whale hunters were charged and ordered to stand trial. In June 1996, the government finally dropped all charges against the Igloolik hunters. In August 1996, Inuit huntedrs from across the arctic gathered in Repulse Bay to catch the first legal bowhead in more than forty years. Arviq! traces the history of the bowhead in the Arctic up to the first legal hunt in 1996.

DVD 5955

Atanarjuat The fast runner /

A small nomadic community is cursed by an unknown shaman. When Atanarjuat falls in love with a woman already promised to the son of the clan's leader, he has to fight for her. She is won by Atanarjuat and the leader plots to attack him in his sleep. Escaping, he sets off running across the ice, embarking on a harrowing adventure of survival in the brutal wilderness. He returns stronger and wiser to reclaim his life and stop the curse that has divided his people.

DVD 1750

Atanarjuat, the fast runner Atanarjuat, la légende de l'homme rapide /

Evil in the form of an unknown shaman divides a small community of Inuit. Twenty years later, two brothers emerge to challenge the evil order: Amaqjuag, the Strong One, and Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner. Atanarjuat wins the hand of the lovely Atuat away from the boastful son of the camp leader, Oki, who vows to get even. Oki ambushes the brothers in their sleep, killing Amaqjuaq, as Atanarjuat miraculously escapes running naked over the spring sea ice.

DVD 5913