Film “My Father’s Land” Draws Large Crowd to Visions for Canada Conference

A scene from the film “My Father’s Land”

The premiere of the Zacharias Kunuk film “My Father’s Land” drew more than 200 people to the Mayfair Theatre on March 2, 2017—providing a strong start to the Visions for Canada 2042 conference.

The film juxtaposed day-to-day scenes from the filmmaker’s ancestral land on Baffin Island with the 2012 hearings into the plan for a $6-billion mining project on the island.

Filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk speaks to the audience.

Many dignitaries attended, including: Elder Piita Irniq , a Commissioner of Nunavut from 2000-2005, Elder Sally Webster, Elder Manitok Thompson, Inuk historian Deborah Kigjugalik Webster, writer Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt, performer Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt, artist Barry Pottle, and Curtis Kuumuaq Konek.

Dean André Plourde also welcomed the staff of Isuma, which produced the film; doctoral students Joshua Gladstone and Sheena Kennedy Dalseg, who worked on the Digital Indigenous Democracy project; and a large contingent of students from the Nunavut Sivuniksavut school in Ottawa.

In addition, he thanked Frances Abele, professor in School of Public Policy and Administration, who was associate producer of the film and one of the founders of the Digital Indigenous Democracy project.

Students from Nunavut Sivuniksavut attend the film premiere.

Ottawa resident Chasidy Alexis, a doctoral student at the University of the Basque Country in Spain, brought her 7-year-old daughter Emirah to see the film.

“My research is on international indigenous law, so I’m interested in the duty to consult with indigenous people,” she said.

Chasidy Alexis with daughter Emirah Alexis.

Friday, March 3, 2017 in FPA Research Series, Media, News, Policy, Public Policy and Administration
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