''Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things'' is a Canadian documentary film, written, produced and directed by

Mark Kenneth Woods Mark Kenneth Woods (date of birth unknown) is a Canadian writer, actor, producer, director and TV host. Biography Woods was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He graduated from University of Toronto's cinema studies program and continued with ...

and Michael Yerxa, which debuted at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival on June 3, 2016."Documentary shines spotlight on experience of LGBT Inuit"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', May 28, 2016. The film was produced by MKW Productions and was shot in

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

Synopsis

The film explores the small but burgeoning community of LGBT Inuit living in Nunavut, amidst the backdrop of the establishment of an

LGBT Pride LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...

festival in the territorial capital of Iqaluit; the event took place just months after Iqaluit participated in the national campaign of raising and displaying the pride flag on public buildings for the duration of the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

to protest anti-LGBT laws in Russia, which set off an extended territory-wide debate about the role of homosexuality in Inuit culture."Gay in Nunavut: discovering a new language"
''

Nunatsiaq News ''Nunatsiaq News'' ( iu, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕐᒥ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᑦ, italic=no) is a Canadian weekly newspaper in operation since 1973 based in Iqaluit, serving Nunavut and Nunavik, in Kativik, Quebec, Kativik, Nord-du-Québec. The paper is publ ...

'', September 26, 2014. The film explores various perspectives on the historical context of LGBT identity and sexuality among the Inuit, including the cultural and religious influence of the Roman Catholic Church on traditional Inuit spirituality and society. According to Inuit elders, the concepts of LGBT identity and long-term same-sex relationships were not known among the Inuit, but same-sex sexual activity was common and accepted — particularly as a remedy for social and sexual isolation during the annual period when men and women were segregated from each other by the gender roles imposed by the traditional hunting season — until Catholicism emerged as a dominant influence on Inuit society in the 1950s. Figures appearing in the film include filmmaker Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, politicians Jack Anawak and Paul Okalik, and activists Allison Brewer, Nuka Fennell and Jesse Mike. The film takes its name from the Inuktitut language words for

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

and gay, which literally translate as "two soft things rubbing together" and "two hard things rubbing together", respectively.

References

External links

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Official Website
2016 films English-language Canadian films Inuktitut-language films 2016 LGBT-related films Documentary films about LGBT and Christianity Culture of Nunavut Works about Nunavut Indigenous LGBT culture Documentary films about Inuit in Canada 2010s Canadian films Canadian LGBT-related documentary films {{LGBT-documentary-film-stub