An Aboriginal Presence

An Aboriginal Presence

Zacharias Kunuk

Born at Kapuivik, Nunavut, his father's winter campsite, Zacharias Kunuk moved to Igloolik at age nine, and soon discovered the magic of movies. In 1981, he sold some carvings to buy a video camera in order to capture on film the stories hunters told after coming back from the hunt.

In 1985, he received a Canada Council grant, and in 1990 he became co-founder and president of Igloolik Isuma Productions, the first Inuit production company in Canada. He has received many awards for his films, most recently for his feature film, Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner.

(left) Zacharias Kunuk, photograph by Norman Cohn © Igloolik Isuma Productions (right) Father and Child 1987 Zacharias Kunuk Inuit Igloolik, Nunavut Whalebone Canadian Museum of Civilization, IV-C-5354, CD97-328-096