A group of 13 Inuit filmmakers who created 58 animated short films in the 1970s will have their work available for public viewing for the first time after the films were rediscovered, restored and digitized by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
The short films, or 'shorts,' were created during a six-week training workshop in Kinngait, formerly known as Cape Dorset, between 1972-1975. The program provided training and equipment to many Inuit artists and musicians, which led to the creation of the Sikusilarmiut Animation Studio in Nunavut.
The films are now contained within seven digitized film reels available for streaming free of charge on the website, a half-century after they were made.
While 17 of those films, created by six of the filmmakers, were included in CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 official program at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974 at Animafest Zagreb, the remaining 41 were never released.
In a news July 3 news release, the NFB credits curator Camilo Martin-Florez with discovering the films and recognizing how they represent a SA国际影视传媒渓andmark chapter in Indigenous cinemaSA国际影视传媒 at the NFB in both scale and significance.
The NFB credit the shorts with marking the emergence of the first new wave of Inuit animation from Nunavut.
The 13 artists whose films have been published are Aoudla Pudlat, Arniak Pingwartuk, Ituli Etidloie, Ishohagitok E. Tugat, Itee Pootoogook, Kanayuk Pootoogook, Mathew Joanasie, Opik Pitseolak, Papirak Pudlalik, Peter Pitseolak, Pitaloosie Saila, Salomonie J. Pootoogook and Timmun Alariaq.
Several blogs were written on the films by Martin-Florez, including The Forgotten Reels of NunavutSA国际影视传媒檚 Animation Workshop ('Beginnings') and ('The Legacy'). A documentary made in 1976 about the Kinngait animation workshop can also be found on the NFB website.