Filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk has received the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 highest honour for his creative vision, which has taken Nunavut Inuit to an international audience.

NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 Commissioner Nellie Taptaqut Kusugak, in her capacity of Chancellor of the Order of Nunavut, presided over KunukSA国际影视传媒檚 investiture at the legislative assembly the evening of June 5.

After calling Kunuk a great ambassador for Nunavut, Kusugak listed a few of the many films Kunuk has made, which show the world Inuit traditional skills and culture, in Inuktitut.

Kunuk, co-founder of Igloolik Isuma Productions, was previously named an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Long before the first ever Inuktitut-language feature-length film Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner hit the big screen in 2001 SA国际影视传媒� and winning the prestigious Camera dSA国际影视传媒橭r at 54th Cannes Film Festival SA国际影视传媒� Isuma had already made at least 20 films.

The company had by then won numerous awards, and institutions all over the world had Isuma productions in their collections: Museum of Modern Art, New York University, National Gallery of Canada, Museum of Northern Peoples in Hokaido, Japan, to name just a few.

In 1999, as he was getting ready to film Atanarjuat, he spoke to Nunavut News.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e staging Atanarjuat in the 16th century. WeSA国际影视传媒檒l have no rifles, no metal,SA国际影视传媒� said Kunuk. SA国际影视传媒淥nly bone and ivory and rock. The sleds are made out of whalebone. We made one of the sleds out of walrus hide. What we do is we freeze it and make it into a sled. All the clothing is caribou and seal. The goggles are bone. All their tools SA国际影视传媒� the closest to metal is rock, rock ulus. Cooking pots in stone and qulliqs in stone, everything. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 what weSA国际影视传媒檝e been working on these years.SA国际影视传媒�

ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 the hard work, attention to detail and creative vision that would see Atanarjuat chosen as the greatest Canadian film of all time by filmmakers and critics at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015.

Kunuk is always working on films, such as 2016SA国际影视传媒檚 feature-length drama Maliglutit (Searchers) and, most recently, he and the Isuma collective have been live-streaming, despite, as he said to those assembled at the legislative assembly, NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 terrible connectivity.

As Kusugak noted, a live-stream of seal-hunting outside Iglulik showed at the 2019 Venice BiennaleSA国际影视传媒檚 Canadian pavilion May. She also spoke of KunukSA国际影视传媒檚 work with the Haida of British Columbia.

Sgaawaay KSA国际影视传媒檜una (Edge of the Knife) is filmed entirely in Haida dialects, said Kusugak, in an effort to revitalize Haida languages. Kunuk was an executive producer, and Isuma the distributor.

In his own speech at the legislative assembly, Kunuk remembered the early films, pre- Atanarjuat, from 1992, when his curiosity and attention to detail were developing.

SA国际影视传媒淏ecause I didnSA国际影视传媒檛 understand the ayaya songs very much SA国际影视传媒� they all sounded the same,SA国际影视传媒� he said via translation, SA国际影视传媒淚 sat with elders for a full week. I learned how they create a song. They have 200 songs, all in their heads. ThereSA国际影视传媒檚 a story to every song.SA国际影视传媒�

The Iglulik company also launched the internet-based Isuma TV, which, if Nunavut technology could catch up, said Kunuk, has much greater potential. HeSA国际影视传媒檇 also like to see more independent Nunavut-made television.

SA国际影视传媒淎vailable to all Nunavut communities, available to watch 24 hours a day. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 one of our dreams,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檒l be filming walrus hunting possibly in August. We have to make sure the people are informed. We have to find out what Inuit are afraid of and what theySA国际影视传媒檙e joyful about, and what their challenges are. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 why Isuma was created.SA国际影视传媒�

All this from a videographer/filmmaker whose hometown only got television in 1982 SA国际影视传媒� the elders kept it out until the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation was formed SA国际影视传媒� and who was a carver by trade.

SA国际影视传媒淚n Repulse Bay I saw a video camera and I decided to have one too. I brought some carvings down to Montreal, sold them, and bought my first TV set, 26-inch, a porta pack and camera, and a VCR,SA国际影视传媒� he told Nunavut News in 1999.

And heSA国际影视传媒檚 never looked back. The list of films, series and projects is long, and will only get longer.

SA国际影视传媒淚f our technology was up to date, we could do many more things,SA国际影视传媒� he said.