Arnait Video Productions (Women's Video Workshop of Igloolik) is a women's filmmaking collective that aims to value the voices of
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
women in debates of interest to all Canadians. Arnait is related to
Isuma
Isuma (Inuktitut syllabics, ᐃᓱᒪ; Inuktituk for 'to think') is an artist collective and Canada's first Inuit-owned (75%) production company, co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk, Paul Apak Angilirq and Norman Cohn in Igloolik, Nunavut in 1990. Kn ...
Atuat Akkitirq
Atuat Akkitirq is a Canadians, Canadian filmmaker, actress and costume designer. A partner in the filmmaking collective Arnait Video Productions, she was a shortlisted Genie Award nominee for Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best ...
. It was originally named ''Arnait Ikajurtigiit'' ( Inuktitut: Women helping each other), and focuses on documenting women's experience and community in Nunavut.
Susan Avingaq describes Arnait as: "a women's video workshop
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
can help people communicate with each other. That can be useful. It can make them understand. A long time ago, just with words and language, people believed stories and legends, they saw pictures in their imagination. Our stories are useful and unforgettable".
Productions
As with Isuma, Arnait's work spans interviews, short ethnographic videos on traditional activities, television series, feature documentaries and narrative feature films. Their first narrative feature ''
Before Tomorrow
''Before Tomorrow'' (french: Le jour avant le lendemain) is a Canadian drama film, released in 2008. Directed by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu, the film is an adaptation of the novel ''Før Morgendagen'' by Denmark, Danish writer Jø ...
(Le Jour avant le lendemain)'' was adapted by Danish writer Jørn Riel from the novel ''For morgendagen''. It premiered in Igloolik in 2008 in front of the community involved in its making. It received nine Canadian Genie Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Costumes, Sound, Original Song, and four
Jutra Awards
The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.
'' Uvanga'' premiered at the
Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
The Festival du nouveau cinéma or FNC (English: ''Festival of New Cinema'') is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, featuring independent films from around the world. Over 160,000 people attend each year. One of ...
in September 2013, toured internationally to film festivals including the
Berlinale
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
, and had a theatrical release in Canada in summer 2014.
In 2014, Arnait started production on '' Sol'', a documentary prompted by the supposed suicide of 26-year-old musician Solomon Uyarasuk in a
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival and announced in December each year to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema" ...
feature films of 2014, selected by a panel of filmmakers and industry professionals organized by TIFF.
*''Anaana (Mother)''
*''Unakuluk (Dear Little One)''
*''
Before Tomorrow
''Before Tomorrow'' (french: Le jour avant le lendemain) is a Canadian drama film, released in 2008. Directed by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu, the film is an adaptation of the novel ''Før Morgendagen'' by Denmark, Danish writer Jø ...
(Le Jour avant le lendemain)'', 2008
*'' Uvanga'', 2013
*'' Sol'', 2014
*''
Restless River
''Restless River'' (french: La rivière sans repos) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu and released in 2019. An adaptation of Gabrielle Roy's 1970 novel ''Windflower (La rivière sans repos)'', the fil ...