SPECIAL PROGRAMMING
Inuit Mittatiin – That’s Funny!
Humour in the Inuit culture is as unique as the Arctic is in Canada. Primarily the foundation of Inuit humour has been identified as being very community and relationship based. In small communities where everyone knows each other, knows the lay of the land and the idiosyncrasies of their small society, humour becomes very intimate.
For example, Rebecca Veevee the host, tells a poignant story in her standup routine about feeling very rich today as opposed to how she felt as a young girl growing up on the land. The audience waits. She pulls out a roll of toilet paper and holds it up for all to see. Now I am rich she exclaims – now I have toilet paper. The audience dissolves into laughter.
This comedy bit is about the intimate details of Inuit life in transition during the 50’s. It brings the audience back to the feelings of those days and compares them to today where toilet paper is a basic and not restricted to “rich people”. This is also a gentle wink at non-Inuit audiences that may have preconceived images of Inuit life today and in the past.
Inuit humour is often extremely elusive in it’s capture. Whereas in southern Canada whole industries are built around humour and can be consumed by an audience on whim, in the north humour is part of everyday life and consumed live within the intimate details of a mundane routine. Community gatherings and the community radio programs are the only venues where this humour is appreciated en masse. Although there are usually one or two people who are recognized as the funniest – everyone gets involved and displays their own unique brand of humour.
Language: Inuktitut, and English and French subtitles
Audience: General
Order Information:
DVD includes Inuktitut and English subtitles
☐ $35.00 personal use
☐ $50.00 institutional use
Include link to order page
Nunavut Inuit
The evolving art of traditional Inuit entertainment
The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation has developed this series dedicated to seeking out and celebrating Inuit excellence in entertainment and the arts.
This 13 part series recognizes all forms of art and entertainment and the Inuit who consistently amaze and impress us. We show traditional clothing designs and their modern fashion counterparts that have wowed them on the runways in Europe. We visit homes and camps of the carvers who have made Inuit art famous all over the world. We race across the tundra with a winning dog team and then We take the modern variation and try a ski-doo race. There are legends told and re-told with variations as subtle and complex as their hidden meanings by some of the best storytellers from the oral tradition.
This series showcases the excellence in Inuit art and entertainment. Each episode follows one theme and great people from across Nunavut – Canada’s newest territory.
Language: Inuktitut, and English and French subtitles
Audience: General
KIKKIK E1-472
During the 1950’s famine in the Canadian Arctic, Kikkik, an Inuk woman, killed a man in self-defense and then found herself in the position of having to leave two of her five children on the tundra. She was tried for murder and criminal negligence and subsequently acquitted.
Her daughter, Elisapee Karetak lives in Arviat, Nunavut and has spent many years tracing the events of her family’s story. Elisapee’s brothers and sisters as well as many members of the Inuit community who lived through the ordeal have wanted and needed to reveal their memories.
Directed by Martin Kreelak, Kikkik E1-472 focuses on the impact to the Ahiarmiut community when they were relocated – the tragedy that led to the famine and the deaths at Henik Lake in the winter of 1958. Kikkik E1-472 unwraps the memory of the few surviving elders, and Elisapee’s siblings Annacatha and Karlak.
Produced by the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, Kikkik E1-472 is directed by Martin Kreelak and written by Elisapee Karetak. Ole Gjerstad, who directed and produced the English-language film, is co-producer. Original theme song performed by Susan Aglukark.
A one-hour English version of KIKKIK was produced by Ole Gjerstad and Elisapee Karetak and broadcast in 2000 on WTN, garnering two Gemini Award nominations.
Language: Inuktitut, and English and French subtitles
Audience: General
Order Information:
DVD includes Inuktitut and English subtitles
☐ $35.00 personal use
☐ $50.00 institutional use
INCLUDE ORDERING LINK