Ever Deadly

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)