Kajutaijuq

Scott Brachmayer's short film, released in 2014, dramatizes a moment in the day of an Inuit hunter, played by Johnny Issaluk. In some ways, it highlights the gap in Inuit traditional knowledge, as the hunter listens to a cassette recording of his grandfather's speech, though the elder himself is absent. It's also a supernatural tale in miniature -- traditional tales tell of many spirits, known as tornaqs, who did the bidding of shamans.  These spirits could be used to do good or evil, depending on the shaman's inclination, but they could also, as it were, get loose and prey upon hunters and others who strayed far out onto the land. This seems to be the case with the miniature Frankenstein encountered by the hunter -- perhaps he, like the child in the classic film Spirit of the Beehive, has summoned up such a creature from his memory of having seen the Boris Karloff film.

The film was made outside of Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital city -- only about a 30-minute skidoo ride away, though the place looks as remote as anyplace could possibly be. So watch, and enjoy the film -- this article from the CBC offers a little more background. And, if horror is to your liking, you might also want to check out a similar feature-length offering, Nyla Innuksuk's 2022 film Slash/Back. It's set in Pangnirtung (known to the locals as just "Pang"), where a group of teenage Inuit girls encounters space aliens shaped like worms who devour people from the inside and then wear their skins as a disguise. As I said when I first heard of the film, "Aliens vs. Inuit teenagers -- my money's on the teenagers!" It's available from Apple TV and other streaming services. (as a sidenote, Innuksuk was a co-producer of Kajutaijuq)

NOTE: I'm posting this to give some background on the film, since weren't able to have an in-person class this week -- no response is required, but you can certainly comment if you like!