Kwey! ᑐᙵᓱ! Welcome! Bienvenue!
Coming to the National Arts Centre! qaummatitsiniq nunarjuamit qaujimajakkanik Film Festival, March 16 to 20th, presented by NAC Indigenous Theatre.
This festival will feature Inuit films both online and on the Kipnes Lantern. qaummatitsiniq nunarjuamit qaujimajakkanik Film Festival (which translates into “lighting up the world with my knowledge”) is curated by Inuk filmmaker and writer Asinnajaq. She is from Inukjuak, Nunavik, and lives in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal).
Asinnajaq has previously co-created Tilliraniit, a three-day festival celebrating Inuit art and artists, as well as the inaugural exhibition INUA at the Qaumajuq. She wrote and directed Three Thousand (2017), a short sci-fi documentary which is one of the films that will be featured next month. Asinnajaq’s work has been exhibited in art galleries and film festivals around the world.
Asinnajaq kindly shared her thoughts about the film festival, and what inspires her.
Q: What are your hopes for qaummatitsiniq nunarjuamit qaujimajakkanik Film Festival? What kind of impact do you hope it will have?
A: I hope that this collection of films will bring joy to viewers, and hopefully give some something new to think about.
Q: What was the process like for coming up with the festival name?
A: I spoke with my dad about it. I was thinking about the Kipnes Lantern as a projector onto the city, and so I thought: What do I want to be projected onto the city? At first, I was thinking about naming it simply around the idea of the lantern, as my father and I talked we made the title more and more complex until we arrived where we did. Thinking about how film is an art form where the medium is time and light, and the purpose is to share one’s knowledge. [Asinnajaq’s father Jobie also has a film featured in the festival].
Q: How did you decide what films you wanted to feature?
A: I thought about which films tell their stories in a very visual way, because I got the sense from the Lantern that it would love to have a lot of movement on it. I also thought about films which broach a wide breadth of interests on the part of the creators.
Q: What inspires you as a film maker?
A: I am inspired by work that makes me think differently. I am inspired by daily life and its potential. I think of film and most of my work in terms of communication. I'm trying to communicate an idea somehow.
