In 1966, at nine years old, Zacharias Kunuk was no longer able to live on the land with his family—the only way of life he’d known. Like many other Inuit and indigenous children, he and his siblings were required to go to school in larger communities like Igloolik in the territory of Nunavut. The community was a place of transition, where the old ways of Inuit life were being replaced by the culture and traditions introduced by christian religion and government policy. Zacharias Kunuk’s 1985 documentary From Inuk Point of View tells the story of Igloolik, its people and the changing ways of Inuit life. The film broke the race barrier by becoming the first ever Inuit or indigenous film to receive a Canada Council for the Arts grant. In this episode of Cinema Reignited, host Samah Ali speaks with Zacharias Kunuk about the creation of From Inuk Point of View and Blandina Makkik from the Inuit Art Foundation.

From Inuk Point of View is currently available to stream online on Hot Docs at Home until December 29, 2022. Visit https://hotdocs.ca/whats-on/films/from-inuk .

Isuma was co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk, Paul Apak, Pauloosie Qulitalik and Norman Cohn. To learn more about Isuma visit http://www.isuma.tv/isuma . 

To learn more about the Inuit Art Foundation visit https://www.inuitartfoundation.org/ . 

Cinema Reignited is a podcast by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, powered by Telefilm Canada.

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This podcast episode was produced by Quill