Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

• Natar Ungalaaq as Atanarjuat, "the fast runner"
• Pakak Innuksuk as Amaqjuaq, "the strong one", Atanarjuat's older brother
• Neeve Irngaut as Uluriaq, wife of Amaqjuaq
• Felix Alaralak as Tulimaq, Atanarjuat's father
  • Stephen Qrunnut as Young Tulimaq
• Kumaglaq, the young son of Atanarjuat and Atuat; namesake of the old camp leader.

• Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq as Oki, Atanarjuat's rival
• Lucy Tulugarjuk as Puja, Oki's spoiled sister
• Apayata Kotierk as Kumaglak, the old camp leader
• Madeline Ivalu as Panikpak, wife of Kumaglak, mother of Sauri, grandmother of Oki and Puja, and sister of Qulitalik
  • Mary Angutautuk as Young Panikpak
• Pauloosie Qulitalik as Qulitalik, brother of Panikpak
  • Charlie Qulitalik as Young Qulitalik
• Mary Qulitalik as Niriuniq, wife of Qulitalik
• Eugene Ipkarnak as Sauri, camp leader
  • Eric Nutarariaq as Young Sauri

• Sylvia Ivalu as Atuat, sought as a wife by Atanarjuat and Oki
• Abraham Ulayuruluk as Tungajuaq, the evil shaman
• Luke Taqqaugaq as Pittiulak, Oki's sidekick
• Alex Uttak as Pakak, Oki's sidekick

The film is set in Igloolik ("place of houses") in the Eastern Arctic wilderness at the dawn of the first millennium,[2] The names of Atanarjuat and his brother first appeared in writing in the journals of the explorer Captain George Lyon, who took part in a British expedition to search for the Northwest Passage in 1821–23.[3] The Inuit believe the story of Atanarjuat to be more than five centuries old.[4] This agrees with geomorphological estimates that Qikiqtaarjuk (Herschel Island), Inuktitut for little island and now a peninsula of Igloolik Island,[5] on which much of the action occurs, became a peninsula about 500 years ago due to isostatic rebound.[3][6][7] The main elements of the original story are that two brothers are betrayed by their wives and help set up a sneak attack. Rivals plunge their spears through the walls of the brothers' tent, but the fast runner makes an escape across the ice, naked and barefoot. After being rescued and healing, the fast runner sets up his own ambush and succeeds in killing his rivals.[3] It was the first Inuktitut-language screenplay,[8] and the project became the first feature film in Inuktitut.[9]

Writer Paul Apak Angilirq, director Zacharias Kunuk, and many others on the production team had heard the Atanarjuat legend when they were young.[10] Over the course of five years, Angilirq interviewed seven elders for their versions of the story and combined them into one treatment.[11][1] The final script was developed by the team of Angilirq, Norman Cohn (producer and cinematographer), Kunuk, Herve Paniaq (tribal elder), and Pauloosie Qulitalik. Angilirq died due to cancer during film production in 1998.[12][13]

Despite the emphasis on accuracy, the film takes liberties with the original Inuit myth: "At the film's core is a crucial lie", wrote Justin Shubow in The American Prospect,[14] which is that the original legend ended in a revenge killing, whereas in the film Atanarjuat stops short of shedding blood.[1] Kunuk felt this was "A message more fitting for our times", and agreed that it "probably" reflected the influence of Christianity and its concept of forgiveness on contemporary Inuit.[14]

After Isuma applied to Telefilm Canada in spring 1998 for financial support, plans were made to begin filming in Igloolik, Nunavut in April. The month was important because April is typically the only time of year in Northern Canada when camera equipment could film winter scenes without malfunctioning due to cold.[15] Kunuk found there was a lack of funding available from Telefilm and the Canadian government, which prioritized English and French-language productions over the languages of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, and would not provide more than $100,000 for a film in an Aboriginal language, which would make Atanarjuat impossible.[10][16] Kunuk regarded this as racial discrimination.[17]

Due to difficulty with funding, Isuma instead successfully appealed for support of the National Film Board of Canada. Although the NFB had abandoned fiction, Isuma argued that in documenting Inuit mythology, Atanarjuat was similar to a documentary film.[18] The budget was approved at $1.96 million.[10]

Filming took place in Igloolik, Nunavut.

Achieving historical accuracy was paramount to the production. According to anthropologist Bernard Saladin d'Anglure the biggest challenge was resurrecting the beliefs and practice of shamanism, "the major frame of reference for Inuit life".[3] Research into historical sources—often the journals of European explorers[3]—provided the basis for the reconstruction of clothes and customs. Elders were consulted. In an interview, Paul Apak Angilirq said:

We go to the elders and ask information about the old ways, about religion, about things that a lot of people have no remembrance of now... They are helping us write down what people would have said and acted in the past, and what the dialogue would have been like ... We speak 'baby talk' compared to the elders. But for Atanarjuat, we want people speaking real Inuktitut ... When we are writing the script, they might jump in and say, 'Oh, we wouldn't say such a word to our in-law! We wouldn't say anything to our brother's wives! It was against the law!'"[19]

The filming crew was 90% Inuit.[8] Filming began in 1999, stretching from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m., given the sun was always up.[18] Cohn used natural light in shooting with his Sony DVW 700 digital camera, avoiding switches from the automatic camera settings.[20] The film production pumped more than $1.5 million into the local economy of Igloolik and employed about 60 people.[21] Given the small population, everyone in Igloolik knew at least one crew member.[16]

Kunuk explained how the crew set out:

Everything was different—the way we traveled, the way we camped. It was just like when we go out today, spring camping, putting up canvas tents and moving from here to there. We would go fifty miles out into the country where there were no roads, nothing. Like the land was from the time it was created. There would be fifteen tents and eighty people, all the kids running around, just waiting for a perfect day. When we had a perfect day, the actors put on their make-up and costumes, and we went onto the site where we wanted to shoot.[11]

The crew would costume the actors and apply make-up, only for the production to stall for four hours for ideal weather, which Kunuk said required the patience found in Inuit hunting.[11]

In the Greater Toronto Area, the film competed with the Canadian comedy Men with Brooms, which set box office records among English Canadian cinema. Atanarjuat became more enduring in the box office and became one of the highest-grossing Canadian films to date.[25]

By 7 November 2002, Atanarjuat grossed $1.1 million in Canada,[26] with Odeon Films spokesman Mark Slone declaring this "an unqualified hit".[24] In the U.S., it grossed $1.75 million by 11 July 2002.[24] In France, it drew 200,000 admissions before the commercial Canadian release in April 2002.[23] Its gross was higher than any Canadian film of 2002.[16] The film finished its run on 30 January 2003 having grossed $3,789,952 in North America and $1,398,337 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $5,188,289.[27]

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner was praised by critics upon its release.[23] Brian D. Johnson of Maclean's hailed it as a masterpiece and a landmark in international film, writing, "This movie doesn't just transport you to another world; it creates its own sense of time and space."[13] In the Toronto Star, Peter Howell wrote the film overcame the stereotypes of the 1922 film Nanook of the North and "defines an epic in every way".[28]

Roger Ebert from Chicago Sun-Times awarded it four stars, praising the film's acting, fleshed out characters, and direction, calling it "passion, filtered through ritual and memory".[29] Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian praised the film's performances and cinematography, calling the film "A remarkable world first".[30] Tom Dawson from BBC called the film "an impressively vivid and detailed depiction of a particular way of life", hailing the film's cinematography as "extraordinary".[31] A. O. Scott from The New York Times praised the film, stating "Mr. Kunuk has accomplished the remarkable feat of endowing characters from an old folk tale with complicated psychological motives and responses. The combination of dramatic realism and archaic grandeur is irresistibly powerful".[32] Marjorie Baumgarten from The Austin Chronicle complimented the film's script, cinematography, and visual style as being unique and refreshing.[33] Leonard Maltin awarded the film four stars, calling it "A privileged peek into Inuit culture and a stirring, deeply personal drama".[34]

The goals of the film were first to show how for thousands of years Inuit communities had survived and thrived in the Arctic, and second to introduce the new storytelling medium of film to help Inuit communities survive long into the future.[3] Doug Alexander wrote in the Canadian historical magazine The Beaver that Atanarjuat "is an important step for an indigenous people who have, until recently, seen their culture recorded by outsiders".[35] Jennifer L. Gauthier of CineAction wrote "Atanarjuat was made primarily for Inuit audiences so that they could see positive and accurate images of themselves on the screen". Director Kunuk put it a little more bluntly: "Four thousand years of oral history silenced by fifty years of priests, schools, and cable TV". He explained, "I first heard the story of Atanarjuat from my mother".[36] "Kids all over Nunavut are playing Atanarjuat in the streets," said producer Norman Cohn in a 2002 interview.[37] At one point the production company was considering making Atanarjuat action figures.[37]

In 2004, critics and filmmakers in the Toronto International Film Festival named the film fifth in the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time.[38] In the next update in 2015, it placed first, prompting Steve Gravestock to comment, "This is likely the first time that a film by an indigenous filmmaker has topped a poll of national cinema."[38] The Nunatsiaq News heralded the choice as a sign Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner "has stood the test of time".[39] However, Eric Moreault, writing for La Presse, dismissed Atanarjuat's first-place finish as nonsensical, noting Mon oncle Antoine topped all previous versions.[40] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a positive 91% "Certified Fresh" based on 98 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's consensus reads, "Compelling human drama and stunning cinematography make The Fast Runner an absorbing experience".[41] On Metacritic the film has a score of 91 out of 100 based on 29 critics indicating critical acclaim.[42]

The film won the Caméra d'Or at Cannes, the first time a Canadian film won the honour.[22][1] Canadian historian George Melnyk interpreted this as a sign that "Canadian cinema has come of global age", also pointing to The Barbarian Invasions winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[43] At the 22nd Genie Awards, Krista Uttak accepted the Award for Best Screenplay on behalf of her deceased father Paul Apak Angilirq.[44]

Canada submitted Atanarjuat for consideration for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was one of the rare Canadian films not in French submitted for consideration, with The Necessities of Life in 2008 also containing a substantial amount of Inuktitut.[45] Atanarjuat was not nominated.

• Alioff, Maurie (September 2001). "From the Edge of the Earth: Zacharias Kunuk's Atanarjuat". Take One.
• Chun, Kimberly (Winter 2002). "Storytelling in the Arctic Circle: An Interview with Zacharias Kunuk". Cineaste. Vol. 28, no. 1.
• d'Anglure, Bernard Saladin (2002). "An Ethnographic Commentary: The Legend of Atanarjuat, Inuit and Shamanism". In Paul Apak Angilirq; Norman Cohn; Bernard Saladin d'Anglure (eds.). Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner. Coach House Books and Isuma Publishing. ISBN 1-55245-113-5.
• Eber, Dorothy Harley (2008). Encounters on the Passage: Inuit Meet the Explorers. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0802092755.
• Evans, Michael Robert (2010). 'The Fast Runner': Filming the Legend of Atanarjuat. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803222083.
• Kunuk, Zacharias (2002). Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner. Coach House Books and Isuma Publishing. ISBN 1-55245-113-5.
• Maltin, Leonard (2014). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Press. ISBN 9780451418104.
• Melnyk, George (2007). Great Canadian Film Directors. The University of Alberta Press. ISBN 9780888644794.
• Wise, Wyndham (March–May 2003). "2002 Survey of Canadian Cinema". Take One.