Angry Inuk

Angry Inuk is a 2016 Canadian feature-length documentary film written and directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril that defends the Inuit seal hunt, arguing the hunt is a vital means for Inuit peoples to sustain themselves. Subjects in Angry Inuk include Arnaquq-Baril herself as well as Aaju Peter, an Inuit seal hunt advocate, lawyer and seal fur clothing designer who depends on the sealskins for her livelihood. Partially shot in the filmmaker's home community of Kimmirut, where seal hunting is seen as essential for survival, the film follows Peter and other Inuit to Europe in an effort to have the EU Ban on Seal Products overturned. The film also criticizes NGOs such as Greenpeace and the International Fund for Animal Welfare for championing animal rights while ignoring the needs of vulnerable northern communities who depend on the hunt for their livelihoods.[1][2]

Development

Arnaquq-Baril was first motivated to help mount a social media defense of Inuit sealing after viewing Dominic Gagnon's collage film Of the North, which had screened at the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal, a film that she had felt portrayed Inuit people in a highly negative light. Angry Inuk was co-produced by Arnaquq-Baril and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in association with EyeSteelFilm.[3]

Release and reception

Angry Inuk premiered May 2, 2016 at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where the film received the Vimeo On Demand Audience Award along with the Canadian Documentary Promotion Award.[1][4]

While Arnaquq-Baril has stated that the anti-sealing movement has forced Inuit to turn to the mining and the natural gas industry to support themselves, with dire consequences for the Arctic environment, supporters of the EU ban on seal products have countered that such a ban does not block Inuit from seal hunting to sustain themselves and supply market demand.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Mullen, Patrick (11 May 2016). "Review: 'Angry Inuk'". Point of View. Documentary Organization of Canada. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  2. Cole, Susan G. (29 April 2016). "Angry Inuk". Now Magazine. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  3. Winton, Ezra (17 December 2015). "CURATING THE NORTH: DOCUMENTARY SCREENING ETHICS AND INUIT REPRESENTATION IN (FESTIVAL) CINEMA (Interview)". Art Threat. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  4. "'Angry Inuk' wins audience award and $25K prize at Hot Docs festival". CBC News. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  5. Tremonti, Anna Maria (4 May 2016). "'Angry Inuk' argues anti-seal hunt campaign hurts Canadian Inuit life". The Current . CBC Radio. Retrieved 9 September 2016.

External links

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