American Cinematographer - December 2001 - 86

A Collective Effort
very rarely in one place at one
time. A film location that might
are

involve up to 100 people turned out
be the largest single enterprise in

to

which the

community had engaged.
filmmaking logistics,
a
hierarchy and very specific

Conventional
built

on

roles, also wouldn't work with

a

group of people used to consensus
and collaboration. "We had to get

people to expand their

of
large
collective enterprise that required
commitment over time," says Cohn,
who also functioned as production
manager. "Inuit are used to partici¬
pating in something as long as
they're interested, and when they're
not interested they're gone. If one of
cultural values

our

lead

actors

sense

include

to

a

had decided he'd had

enough and left, that would have
a
very Inuit thing to do. But if
we'd
imported a production
manager from Toronto or New York
to keep people in line, we would have
lost everybody.
been

"The Inuit process

is

very

horizontal," he continues. "We made
our

film in

consensus

an

Inuit way,

through

and collaboration. It takes

longer, but people felt

more

natural

and relaxed and the result is visible

of Atuat

(Sylvia

Ivalu) reveals
the tattoos that
are an

Inuit

tradition.
Bottom:

Atanarjuat
enjoys a light
moment with

his brother,

Amaqjuaa
(Pakak
Innukshuk).

It

also

language that wasn't a written
language was a challenge," admits

exciting to
people expand their cultural
values in the process of making the

walk down the

Cohn. But the filmmakers did it the

film."

for

full of visual
the kiss

or

street.

Life is like that,

surprises. If you cut after

after the door is slammed,

you never shoot the lingering
effects of those moments."

after¬

Inuit

way: Apak Angilirq
recorded eight elders telling

first
their
own versions of the old legend. Then

screen.

was

see

After

writing the script and
raising the funds - whose sources
included the Canadian Television

he led Isuma's team of five writers to

Fund, Channel 24 Igloolik, Vision

after producing a 13episode, half-hour TV series and a

combine these into the first-ever

TV

Inuktituk

Television Network

number of one-hour and half-hour

version

dramas, the members of Igloolik

Throughout
screenwriting

In 1995,

Isuma Productions felt that

they
were ready to develop a more ambi¬
tious project. Up to that point, all the
work they'd done was based on
improvisational skill; they'd never
written a script. But they knew they'd
have

to

write

one

for

a

$1.3 million

movie, even though Inuit culture and

language is based in oral traditions.
"Writing a 115-page script in a
82 December 2001

the

example, it could be the way the
people look at each other before they

on

Top: A close-up

screenplay, with an English
for

commented

outside
every

on

readers.

stage of the

process,

elders

changing language and
explaining the subtleties of behavior
and motivation that weren't always
apparent to more modernized
members of the
That

team.

just the beginning.
lifestyle,
groups of more than 10 or 15 people
was

In the traditional Inuit

the

Aboriginal Peoples
the produc¬
tion team was ready to shoot. They
did so from April to October 1999,
the warmest months in the region.

details of cultural

accuracy,

and

In addition to

-

an

all-Inuit

cast

from

Igloolik, which mixed some
experienced actors with mostly first¬
time performers, Atanarjuat featured
a 90-percent Inuit technical crew that
also included seasoned pros and
novices. This mix

choice

of

a

deliberate

Igloolik

Isuma

was

Productions, which describes its
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