I was interviewed by CBC for Sook Yin Lee’s show “Definitely Not the Opera” (a.k.a. DNTO) for an episode about body image. Click this link to find info about the episode. On that page you will find a “Listen” button to hear the episode.
http://www.cbc.ca/dnto/episode/2013/01/24/are-we-ever-really-happy-with-our-bodies/
You can also see DNTO’s tweet about it here:
My film Tunniit is screening at the Winnipeg Art Gallary as part of Inuit Film Night held in conjunction with the exhibition Creation & Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art, a fascinating look at the history of Inuit art over the past six decades—artistic developments, influential artists, new media. Click the link to see more:
We’re live! Check out the site for a new project that I’m co-producing with John Walker Productions: arcticdefenders.ca
For those of you that missed it before, the Inuit High Kick film is now back up online after a successful run of film festivals. View the film, photos, interviews about Inuit games and the film and more at:
Well, this is now the second time I’ve won an award for my Lumaajuuq animation and missed the event! First was at the ImagineNATIVE festival in October, and now again at the Yorkton Film Festival in Saskatchewan. Lumaajuuq just won a Golden Sheaf award in the “Best Aboriginal” category at the Yorkton Film Festival.
Thanks so much to the animator I worked with on this film, Dan Gies of www.everyonediesfilms.com. Thanks also to my producers Debbie Brisebois of Inuit Broadcasting Corporation and Derek Mazur formerly of the National Film Board, who has since moved on to become the CEO of Nunavut Film.
See the full list of Golden Sheaf award winners here:
http://www.goldensheafawards.com/default.aspx?page=72083&a=w&y=2011
Exciting news! The animation I did with the NFB called Lumaajuuq, has been nominated for two awards at the Yorkton Film Festival.
mother curses her own son blind with dirty whale fat
Click on this link to see the list of nominated films:
http://www.goldensheafawards.com/default.aspx?page=207&a=n&y=2011
My husband’s animation, Bear Facts, is also double-nominated! We’re competing against each other in one of the categories, hahah.
Wow, this is a list of seriously excellent documentaries. Tough choice, but I have to say Last Train Home by Lixin Fan is now one of my favourite docs ever. Killer list, I haven’t seen them all but I plan to! Click on the link to see the list and vote:
http://www.cinemaeyehonors.com/2011-audience-vote
To learn more about the film and/or the people that made it, go to:
OMG. These 280P guys are SO funny! And nerdy but in a super cool way! How have I never seen these videos before? This is true Inuk humour, anyone from Nunavut will be rolling on the floor after watching their Christmas Games comedy skit.
After you watch that and have a good laugh, make sure to click on ALL their videos. They also do (slightly) more serious current affairs issues. I was so happy to see young Inuit get into media, and talking about world politics with a sense of humour. Way to go guys, keep it up! Ajunngittusi!
The “Stories From Our Land” workshop by Nunavut Film and the NFB was great. Meeting Cordell Barker (Oscar nominated animator) was not only super cool, but very informative. I learned from him the expression “Kill your baby.” It’s not as evil as it sounds, and it’s a very useful expression to know and remind yourself of.
When you’re making a film, you have all these grand ideas. Some of them are good, some of them are not. Inevitably, no matter how many good ideas you have, you can’t fit them all into your film. You might have a brilliant little idea that’s really funny, powerful, emotional, etc. But if it doesn’t help move forward the overall story of your film, you can’t use it. Sometimes, these ideas you think are brilliant are really hard to let go of, and can hold you back from making the right choices for your story. On every project, you have to drop a few of these ideas that you were so attached to, and it really can feel like you’re betraying and killing your baby. It’s the really cynical and dark sense of humour of filmmaking.
There was also a really good “producing 101″ lecture by Daniel Cross of EyeSteelFilm. The lessons I learned there are:
1) Stay on top of your finances on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. You should know exactly where you stand at the end of each day, week and month. NEVER be lazy or too busy to do this.
2) You have to deliver the film you told your funders you were going to make. You can’t just change your project without coming to an agreement with funders first.
3) You have to religiously keep up with your reporting and do it properly.
Now that I’m writing this, it seems so very simple and obvious. However, those three things are SO much easier said than done. I’m at the end of my first long-form documentary, and I’m struggling to get all my financial reporting together and finished, and it’s so hard to remember what every little receipt and scrap of paper was for exactly, or even which project it’s for. ARGH!
Take it from me. Start small. Do a few short films first. Even if you’ve directed, or been crew on productions, when it comes to producing, start with a project that’s small and manageable.
Click here to see an article about the workshops:
For those of you that live in Iqaluit, my documentary Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos is premiering at the Astro Theatre this coming Sunday at 5PM!
It’s different from the one that’s been broadcast on APTN, it’s the full Inuktitut version, with English subtitles so both unilingual Inuit and Qallunaat can understand the Thanks to Nunavut Film, the National Film Board and APTN for sponsoring this screening. I’m very excited as it’s the first theatrical screening of my first solo documentary!
Thanks to Nunavut Film, the National Film Board and APTN for sponsoring this screening.
