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>> The first all-Inuit feature Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner is an astonishing achievement

by MATTHEW HAYS

Don't look to Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk for that star-struck, Hollywood-or-bust sense you get from so many up-and-coming filmmakers. Kunuk, in town this week for the New Film Fest to present his sensational feature Atanarjuat, seems somewhat out of place in the schmoozy aura of a film fest.

But here he is, sitting down with cinematographer and coproducer Norman Cohn, to talk about their striking achievement, Atanarjuat, a three-hour epic, the first film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely by Inuit. The film is turning into one of those outrageous success stories, a movie made against many odds that is now reaping huge accolades.

"The film has taken on a life of its own," confirms Cohn. After seeing each other's work, Kunuk and Cohn decided to collaborate, choosing an age-old Inuit legend to bring to the big screen. But as with all descriptions of the filmmaking process, it's hard to reduce all of the trials and tribulations of creating Atanarjuat to a few mere sentences. Funding was extremely difficult to come by, a result, Kanuk says, "of being an aboriginal person and realizing what roads you have to take for financing, even in 1998. This was clearly the most difficult aspect. The way policies are made meant things were hard for us."

The filmmakers did find help with the NFB, however, who recognized the value of the project and bent a few rules to invest in it. Most significantly, during a series of cuts several years ago, the NFB backed away from fiction filmmaking. But Cohn and Kunuk successfully argued that in the Inuit tradition of oral histories passed down from generation to generation, Atanarjuat's dramatic recreations constituted documentary filmmaking. It worked, and the team had the bulk of their funding.

Fearless feature

The story itself is unusual, yet one told in such a way as to make it seem familiar and universal. Based on ancient Inuit legend, it involves the long-told Igloolik story about a community of nomadic Inuit whose lives are disrupted by a visiting Shaman. Years later, two brothers rise up to fight the evil that now lurks in their community--but they have their enemy, Oki, who vows revenge on the two.

Capturing Inuit life in the bold crispness of Beta video, Atanarjuat is a feature that defies any stereotypes about earnest native-centred narratives. The film drew such loud praise at Cannes that it landed the coveted Camera d'Or. The press has rallied around the film as well, with glowing, lengthy articles in both Take One and a forthcoming issue of American Cinematographer. "There really haven't been any negative responses," says Cohn. "People have really taken to this film."

Despite the overwhelming adulation, despite the crush of paparazzi and award at Cannes, Zunuk is forthright about the audience he was most concerned about after completing the film. "I wanted to see how Igloolik would respond," he says. The final cut screened there first, over two nights in a school gymnasium. Though the town's population is 1,100, 1,500 packed the auditorium over two nights to see the film. Kunuk reports response was powerful, especially seeing as a member of the community and the film's screenwriter, Paul Apak Angilirq, died during the making of the movie. "People were touched by the end," Kunuk says.

A true Canuck success story

Cohn says a big part of the success of the film has been the filmmakers' commitment to remain true to their story and the specificity of the culture they're trying to present. "We took a risk, in a sense, by keeping things very specific to this culture. If we'd tried to go universal, to keep things broad, I don't think we'd have the same film."

That also meant thinking carefully about which distributor they would end up with for the film's post-festival life. They were approached by many in Cannes, including Miramax, but went with Lot 47, as they seemed the most enthusiastic.

"We really wanted to go with people who believed in the film, the people who seemed the most enthusiastic. Others liked it, but seemed unsure of the saleability."

Perhaps the most Canadian thing about this Canadian success story comes with this bit of domestic news: Ironically enough, even after all this adulation and the award, the film has no Canadian distributor. The filmmakers themselves have set up the screenings, to begin this Monday, at Ex-Centris.