Accessing the Inuit: Challenges Faced by Atanarjuat’s English-Canadian Viewers

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Recommended: Representations of indigenous people in film

As a film made by Inuit people and for the Inuit community, Atanarjuat provides the audience with a privileged look into the Northern society. Throughout the film, many viewers are exposed to elements of Inuit culture which are unfamiliar. The film’s director, Zacharias Kunuk, faces a paradox because he wants viewers to feel like insiders of Inuit culture, yet the viewers cannot truly understand the cultural traditions that are represented in the film. The majority of the viewers have never lived in an Inuit community and have very little sense of the ideologies that persist in Inuit society. Because Atanarjuat does not aim to be an educational film, it does not explain itself. There are many moments throughout the film which cannot properly be understood by non-Inuit viewers, and, despite his goal of inclusion, Kunuk does not offer any explanation to ease the audience into the culture. In analyzing the film, non-Inuit critics are presented with the challenge of describing First Nations art while being aware of the inherent power imbalances in doing so. Because Atanarjuat acts as a counter reading to the popular myth of the Inuit, the film portrays the Inuit people as they perceive themselves rather than as the larger Canadian society would portray them. This shift away from the centre of society, looking to an underrepresented group, is an example of decentering. Although Kunuk establishes a connection between the Inuit characters in the film and the non-Inuit viewers, he also provides many moments of intentional inaccessibility, reminding the viewers that in this instance, the Inuit are privy to more information than the non-Inuit audience. Before looking specifically at Atanarjuat, we must acknowledge the dangers of describin... ... middle of paper ... ...n. The film serves as a counter reading to the popular myth of the Inuit, and viewers face challenges as parts of the film are inaccessible. By not explaining important conventions that appear in the film, the filmmakers remind English-Canadians that there is a whole society in the North that is unlike their own. Igloolik Isuma Productions caters mainly to an Inuit audience by producing Inuktitut films and TV shows, but Atanarjuat appeals to global audiences as well. Works Cited Atanarjuat. Dir. Zacharias Kunuk. Igloolik Isuma Productions, 2000. Cohn, Norman. “The Art of Community-Based Filmmaking.” Brick 70 (2002): 21-3. King, Thomas. “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial.” Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Canada: Broadview, 2004. 183-90. Krupat, Arnold. “Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner and Its Audiences.” Critical Inquiry 33 (2007): 606-31.

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