Trent University Presents “Sisters and Grandmothers of the North: A Festival of Inuit Stories” from October 2 to 10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

'Gathering of Inuit Women Artists Includes Performances, Workshops and a Special Screening of Award-Winning Film “Before Tomorrow”

Thursday, October 2, 2008, Peterborough

The Indigenous Studies Department at Trent University invites the community to participate in a series of public events entitled “Sisters and Grandmothers of the North: A Festival of Inuit Stories” from Thursday, October 2 to Friday, October 10.

The eight-day festival brings together several Inuit artists, filmmakers and performers to take part in a workshop designed to promote exchange with Indigenous videographers and filmmakers from the South.

Several events are open to the public including:

Thursday, October 2 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Artist talk on “memory, rationality, domesticity: a conversation about my performance work” with Tanya Lukin Linklater, choreographer, dancer and author from the Alutiiq Nation of Alaska.

Tuesday, October 7 & Wednesday, October 8 at 8:00 p.m.
Performances of ika lluk, a dance theatre piece created and performed by Tanya Lukin Linklater, followed by a reception and throat-singing lessons.

Thursday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m.
Screening of Before Tomorrow, a co-production of Igloolik Isuma Productions and Kunuk Cohn Productions and the first feature film by Arnait Video Productions, an Inuit women’s filmmaking collective. This film premiered in Nunavut in February 2008, and recently won the Best Canadian First Feature Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. According to CBC film reviewer Jesse Wente, ““An assured and captivating film, Before Tomorrow is further evidence of a people finding their cinematic voice and employing it to striking effect.”

Members of Arnait Video Productions will be staying at Trent as part of a four-day residency from October 7 to 10. They will lead a workshop each day for participants involving discussions around the themes of storytelling, the environment and language.

The coordination of this event has been led by Marrie Mumford, Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Arts and Literatures at Trent University. All events take place in Nozhem: First Peoples Performance Space, located in Peter Gzowski College in the Enweying Building at 2510 Pioneer Road, Peterborough.

This event is jointly sponsored by the Indigenous Studies Department at Trent University, Indigenous Performance Initiatives, the Peterborough Arts Umbrella and O’Kaadenigan Wiingashk.

Image caption: Scene from Before Tomorrow, the story of an Inuit grandmother and grandson who find themselves as the last humans on earth.

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For further information, please contact Marrie Mumford at (705) 748-1011, ext. 7310 or Brittany Cadence, Communications Officer at (705) 748-1011, ext. 6185