
Throat singing is such a thrilling, strange, unique form of expression, for the first five minutes of this film, the camera just watches a duet, in intense close-up, and the results are mesmerizing, funny, sexy and beautiful. In Tanya Tagaq, we are fortunate to have a radical exponent and innovator in this traditional art-form, and this fabulous collaboration between Tagaq and Chelsea McMullan (My Prairie Home) serves to shed light on what makes her tick (with rare insights into her background and family life in Nunavut) while doubling as a record of an extraordinary live concert performance. We also get readings from Tagaq’s poetry and novel, Split Tooth, illustrated with hand-drawn animation. Painful memories are recounted of Tagaq’s mother and her family being forced to relocate due to racist colonial policies, which allows us to appreciate Tagaq’s exploration of her Inuk artistic practice as an act of healing and resistance.
Saturday, January 21, 2pm screening: There will be a Zoom Q&A with Tanya Tagaq and co-director Chelsea McMullan, moderated by music journalist, podcaster and author Andrea Warner (We Oughta Know; Buffy Sainte-Marie)
Tanya Tagaq, Chelsea McMullan
Tanya Tagaq, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Mary Gillis, Inuuja Gillis, Lucas Kalluk
Canada
2022
In English and Inuktitut with English subtitles
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Executive Producer
Anita Lee
Producer
Lea Marin, Anita Lee
Screenwriter
Tanya Tagaq, Chelsea McMullan
Cinematography
Alejandro Coronado
Animation
Glenn Gear, Fred Casia, Parissa Mohit
Editor
Avrïl Jacobson
Original Music
Jesse Zubot