Arnait Style
Research into traditional and contemporary Inuit styles of narration
AVP’s productions are the expression of research into traditional and contemporary Inuit styles of narration. An underlying context for the stories told in our video works is the formal innovations associated with the Inuit of Igloolik appropriating videographic tools.
The use of the docu-drama genre permits us to take on our own themes by giving voice to several generations of Inuit:
- the Elders, who still know the secular traditions of the region around Igloolik;
- the adults, who have lived in the world of traditional culture, but also in that of "Qabluna", or white men, and are versatile within both worlds;
- and finally, the young people, who have entered into contact with the Western world which exhorts them to learn, first of all, the tools and skills of that culture before those of their grand parents.
Alternating interviews and scripted portions offer different approaches for exploring our chosen subjects.
The originality of Arnait Video Productions’ works is due very much to the efforts undertaken to create a production process that is in harmony with the lives of the women involved in each project. Our production values reflect the cultural values of the participants: respect for community events, for Elders, for hunting and fishing seasons, for certain traditions belonging to particular families, among others. We work as a team to write the scenes of each script, to make the costumes and accessories, and to shape the interaction and performances of the actors.
