Arnait Video Productions

Surprised at the loss of her innocence, the young Inuk Elsa draws courage and strength from her rugged land to become a woman as independent as the restless river that cuts across it. She becomes the very young mother of a child whose surprising destiny breaks with the millennial traditions of her ancestors. Navigating the social norms of the colonizers and the reality of her own family situation, the dreariness of a relationship that is not right for her, and the rebellion of her teenage son, Elsa’s path follows the winding course of the indomitable river that accompanies her every turn in life.

Anna is nervous when she and her son, Tomas, arrive in the small, close-knit community of Igloolik, in the Canadian Arctic.

The history of changes experienced by Inuit people in the last sixty years is contained in the stories of Vivi Kunuk. Abandoned by her father, a White RCMP officer, Vivi Kunuk was adopted by the Inuk family of her mother who raised her as a boy. This is but one remarkable chapter in her life. With her husband Enuki, she raised eight children living most of the year on the land. Surrounded by her grandchildren, she recounts stories about the land she knows intimately and her life's destiny on Baffin Island.

Tia, a 10 year-old Syrian refugee living in Montreal, finds a magic portal and travels to the Arctic where she befriends an Inuk girl with who she immerses herself in a world of Inuit myth and magic.

Women of the Arnait Video Collective reenact a traditional women's activity: the use of the qulliq. The qulliq is the seal oil lamp and stove of the old days, the only source of light and warmth. The women tell the story in words and songs as they install the qulliq in their igloo.

Rooted in tradition, adoption is a reality that all Inuit families have experienced. In Inuit culture, adopting a child from a relative, friend or acquaintance is a common practice. Marie-Hélène Cousineau, the adoptive mother of Alexandre Apak, lived in Igloolik, a small island southwest of Baffin Island in the Arctic, for many years. This documentary, which she directed in collaboration with Mary Kunuk (an old friend and colleague), explores Inuit family relations through the personal histories of women who have experienced adoption in one way or another. In a parallel thread, the film documents the creation of an intricate felt wall-hanging that depicts key moments from their lives. All skilled seamstresses, these women of Igloolik use fabric to draw, cut, and embroider their personal life stories – an intimate portrait of family ties and a vibrant illustration of the role adoption has always played in Inuit culture

An aqtuqsi is a dream from which one must wake up, a paralyzing nightmare. “I decided to put my aqtuqsi in video. It’s so interesting because it is not a nightmare or a regular dream: an aqtuqsi is something that can paralyze you when you’re sleeping.”

Rose Ukkumaluk, an Igloolik elder, relates the tale of Attagutaaluk, a woman who survived a starvation and lived to become an honoured resident of Igloolik.