Multi-media production in Nunavut since 2005

On their way to gaining substantial control of their ancestral land, Nunavimmiut learned important lessons. The creation of Nunavut, itself a twenty-five year effort, was only the stepping stone to other initiatives.

In 2008, after years and years of negotiations, the Ninginganiq National Wildlife Area became a reality. Off the east coast of Baffin Island, south of Clyde River, this marine habitat is the late-summer home of 100 bowhead whales, the largest known concentration of the endangered Baffin Bay – Davis Strait population. The entire coastal area in this region is pristine at present, and supports intact populations of polar bears, ringed seals, Canada geese, snow geese, halibut, ringed seals and narwhal.

History moves fast in Canada’s Arctic, and what was gained through patience and persistence is often taken for granted a few years later. As a lesson for other indigenous communities, “Sanctuary” will look at how the victory of Ninginganiq was achieved, and how the people of Baffin east coast can best protect and use it for future generations.

When Tony Kalluk returned to his home community of Clyde River three years ago, many townspeople feared the worst. In the more than twenty years that he had been gone, Tony had gained the reputation as one of Nunavut’s most hardened and violent criminals, involved in gangs and drugs. But word was that he had reformed, and that he was coming home to begin a new life.

Tony Kalluk’s unfinished life history lays bare the dark underbelly of Nunavut itself, in a way that statistics, government reports and media accounts cannot match. At the same time it is riveting raw material for a film, be it a fictionalized drama or a documentary where Tony himself is front and centre. It could even be a mixture, with Tony and other real-life characters re-enacting episodes from the past while also taking us into their lives today.

As many of Nunavut’s communities struggle with a crisis of addiction, suicide and violence, many committed Nunavimmiut are struggling to turn the tide. Our series explores the issues by profiling the hard work of a cast of counselors, elders, teachers, social workers, justice committee members, health providers, politicians, anti-suicide activists, church leaders and other selected individuals, including people who have themselves been addicts
and convicted criminals. We explore the issues through the work of people fighting to make Nunavut a better place.

Forty years ago, as nomadic life was ending for Canada’s Inuit, the sled dog population plummeted from an estimated 20,000 to about 700. The collapse was traumatic, and the wounds of this loss are still open. What happened, and why? This documentary co-produced with the National Film Board of Canada for the Aboriginal People’s Television Network, and Societé Radio-Canada is making its way on the festival circuit. It will be released by NFB in mid-2011.

In this story of “two truths” and the power of memory, Piksuk crews traveled across Baffin Island to re-enact (photos) the killings of sled dogs in the 1960s and 1970s.

Visit Qimmit’s doc page on the NFB site.

Watch all six clips of Qimmit on the NFB player.

The dogs are back! Every April, Nunavut mushers engage in the week-long Nunavut Quest sled dog race across the northern Baffin region. In 2010 Piksuk crews traveled with the race through the spectacular Baffin Island landscape from Pond Inlet to Clyde River.

180 dogs, 135 humans and 45 snowmobiles made for a dramatic procession as we faced blizzards, cracking sea ice and witnessed dramatic climate change that’s sweeping across the Arctic.

LA QUETE DE PHILIPPE is currently being broadcast by Radio-Canada through its regional services. A six-part series for APT is being completed and will be broadcast in Inuktitut and English later this year. An interactive website and a dog-sledding video game is under construction.