''The Journals of Knud Rasmussen'' is a 2006 Canadian-Danish film directed by

Zacharias Kunuk Zacharias Kunuk ( iu, ᓴᖅᑲᓕᐊᓯ ᑯᓄᒃ, born November 27, 1957) is a Canadian Inuk producer and director most notable for his film '' Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner'', the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced entirely in Inukt ...

and

Norman Cohn Norman Rufus Colin Cohn British Academy, FBA (12 January 1915 – 31 July 2007) was a British Academia, academic, historian and writer who spent 14 years as a professorial fellow and as Astor-Wolfson Professor at the University of Sussex. Life C ...

. The film is about the pressures on traditional

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 ...

shamanistic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

beliefs as documented by

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies ...

during his travels across the

Canadian Arctic Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories and N ...

in the 1920s. Produced by

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. Know ...

, the film premiered on September 7, 2006 as the opening film of the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

, after pre-release screenings in Inuit communities in Canada and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

Synopsis

Set primarily in and around

Igloolik Igloolik ( Inuktitut syllabics: , ''Iglulik'', ) is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on th ...

in 1922, the film depicts the encounter between a group of Inuit in Arctic Canada led by one of the last shamans of the Canadian Inuit, Aua, and three Danish ethnographers and explorers,

Therkel Mathiassen Therkel Mathiassen (5 September 1892, in Favrbo, Denmark – 14 March 1967) was an archaeologist, anthropologist, cartographer, and ethnographer notable for his scientific study of the Arctic. Mathiassen and Peter Freuchen took part in the Fift ...

and

Peter Freuchen Lorenz Peter Elfred Freuchen (20 February 1886 – 2 September 1957) was a Danish explorer, author, journalist and anthropologist. He is notable for his role in Arctic exploration, namely the Thule Expeditions. Personal life Freuchen was b ...

during the latter's "Great Sled Journey" of 1922. The film is shot from the perspective of the Inuit, showing their traditional beliefs and lifestyle. The shaman and his entourage must ultimately decide whether to join the ranks of another group of Inuit who have converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

Awards

Michelline Amaaq received a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

nomination for Best Costume Design at the

27th Genie Awards The 27th Genie Awards were held on February 13, 2007 to honour films released in 2006. The ceremony was located at the Carlu theatre in Toronto. '' The Rocket (Maurice Richard)'' was the most successful film at these awards, winning nine of its ...

in 2007. The film was a nominee for the

Rogers Best Canadian Film Award The Rogers Best Canadian Film Award is presented annually by the Toronto Film Critics Association to the film judged by the organization's members as the year's best Canadian film. In 2012, the cash prize accompanying the award was increased to $10 ...

at the

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2006 10th TFCA Awards December 19, 2006 ---- Best Film: The Queen The 10th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2006, were given on 19 December 2006. Winners *Best Actor: **Sacha Baron Cohen - '' Borat: Cultura ...

, and was named to TIFF's annual year-end

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" ...

list for 2006."'Away From Her' makes list of Top 10 Canadian films of 2006". ''

Times & Transcript The ''Times & Transcript'' is a newspaper from Moncton, New Brunswick. It serves Greater Moncton and eastern New Brunswick. Its offices and printing facilities are located on Main Street in Downtown Moncton. The paper is published by Brunswick Ne ...

'', December 15, 2006.

References

External links

* 2006 films 2006 drama films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films English-language Danish films Danish drama films 2000s Danish-language films Inuktitut-language films Films directed by Zacharias Kunuk Films shot in Nunavut Films about Inuit in Canada 2000s English-language films 2006 multilingual films Canadian multilingual films Danish multilingual films 2000s Canadian films {{Denmark-film-stub