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Work of Yellowknife-based Inuk artist to debut at Available Light Film Festival

Germaine Arnattaujuq’s (Arnaktauyok) prolific career as an Inuk artist continues with the debut of a new animated short, Arctic Song, which is based off of her artwork and tells tales around Inuit creation stories from the Iglulik region in Nunavut.
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Germaine Arnattaujuq’s (Arnaktauyok) prolific career as an Inuk artist continues with the debut of a new animated short, Arctic Song, which is based off of her artwork and tells tales around Inuit creation stories from the Iglulik region in Nunavut.

Arctic Song tells the story of a raven who brings daylight to the world, giants who turn into mountains, and animals that create shimmering constellations and northern lights.

A frame from Arctic Song displaying the northern lights. Photo courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada

The short will debut at the virtual Available Light Film Festival out of Whitehorse, Yukon and runs from Feb. 11 to 28. The festival features a total of 18 Indigenous and northern stories that are presented in partnership with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

“It just kind of landed on my lap,” said Arnattaujuq, regarding Arctic Song. “I thought, well, I’ll try it.”

Arnattaujuq, who would serve as inspiration and art director for the project, said it took two years before production on Arctic Song finally wrapped.

“It takes quite a bit,” she said. “It takes so long to do animation.”

Arctic Songs incorporates famous prints from Arnattaujuq, such as Night and Day (2006) and Northern Lights (2006), for the framework of the animated project.

Arnattaujuq’s also worked with animators to provide layered backgrounds and frame-by-frame hand-drawn characters for the project.

It took a year to finish the frames for use in the animated short.

Arctic Song was a co-production between Taqqut Productions Inc. and the National Film Board of Canada

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