Nallua
BEST CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY AWARD : International Film Festival Les Percéides
JURY'S SPECIAL MENTION AWARD : Babel Film Festival, Cagliari, Italy
Nobody knows what happened. Tainted meat? Poisonous berries? In 1943, 24 out of 40 residents of Qarmaarjuit, on Baffin Island, died. Today, Ruth, who survived, and Elisapee, whose family took in Ruth in Nallua, not far from the tragedy, live in Pond Inlet. They visit the communities where their lives were transformed. Documenting the journey with rich, poignant direction, and exploring the deeper question of the survival of Inuit culture, Christian Mathieu Fournier looks into the causes of a largely forgotten event, with help from the work of plant ecologist José Gérin-Lajoie of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
Les Rendez-Vous du Cinéma Québécois 2016
Festivals :
BEST CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY AWARD : International Film Festival Les Percéides
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Missoula, Montana, USA
Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois
World Premiere : Montréal First Peoples Festival
Québec City Film Festival
Festival opening film: Indigenous Film & Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado
Babel Film Festival, Cagliari, Italy
Festival International du Film Insulaire de l’Île de Groix, France
Festival de films de Portneuf sur l'environnement
Cinoche - Baie-Comeau International film festival
Ciné-7 - Sept-Îles Film Festival
Distribution : Spira
Contact : Catherine Thériault
Distribution and sales : distribution@spira.quebec www.spira.quebec
In 1943, within a few days, 25 people died at the Qarmaarjuit camp, on Baffin Island, Nunavut, which is over half of the population of this Inuit community. Still unexplained to this day, the standing theories that could help understand this tragedy will soon be disclosed.
Two survivors from this tragedy, Ruth and Elisapie, return to the location to pay final respects to their family. While waiting to leave the community of Pond Inlet, where they have been living for over fifty years, these two old women take one last look at the ocean that calls deeply within them this longed-for return to their ancestral land.
Beyond the personal and intimate look, this return represents a collective legacy for the community, an answer to their questions, to their origins.
The hope to bridge past and future.
Documentary, 76 min, 2015
Director: Christian M. Fournier
Research : José Gérin-Lajoie
Photography: Christian M. Fournier
Editing: René Roberge
Sound design and editing: Claude Beaugrand
Music: Bertrand Chénier
Producers: Nadine Beaudet and José Gérin-Lajoie
Distribution : Spira
