A Tale of Two Qallunaat
Reconciliation Through Art
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47m
Logline:
A Tale of Two Qallunaat is a documentary about two intrepid women artists who travelled to the Arctic in the early 1970s and left a lasting legacy of their art and love of the Inuit and their land.
Synopsis:
This one hour documentary, narrated by Martha Flaherty, tells the tale of two Qallunaat women from Thunder Bay, Ontario who travelled to Pond Inlet in the early 1970s and left a unique legacy of stories, film footage and sketches. Inuk Elder, Navalik Tologanak brings Sheila Burnford’s non-fiction book “One Woman’s Arctic”, her film footage and hundreds of Susan Ross sketches to share with Elders and youth. The faces and stories of the people documented by the two artists more than 50 years ago are shared in the spirit of reconciliation. Inspired by Susan’s uncle, Robert Flaherty and his film Nanook of the North, the two intrepid women left a lasting legacy. The film also explores the family connection between Robert Flaherty’s Inuk granddaughter Martha Flaherty and his niece Susan Ross and Martha shares the tragic story of Inuit relocation.
Sheila’s daughter Jonquil Covello and Susan’s son, Tom Ross, who accompanied Susan to the Arctic in 1996, have donated their mothers art to the Thunder Bay Museum and are happy to share it in the spirit of reconciliation with the people of Nunavut. The two women first met Robert Flaherty’s Inuit grandchildren in Iqaluit on their first trip in 1970 and we will explore the legacy of his film Nanook of
the North and its impact on the two women and the Flaherty family in Nunavut.
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