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In this feature-length documentary, three generations of the Caribou Inuit family come together to tell the story of their journey as Canada's last nomads. From the independent life of hunting on the Keewatin tundra to taking the reins of the new territory of Nunavut on April 1, 1999, we see it all. The film is the result of a close collaboration between Ole Gjerstad, a southern Canadian, and Martin Kreelak, an Inuk. It's Martin's family that we follow, as the story is told through his own voice, through those of the Elders, and through those of the teens and young adults who were born in the settlements and form the first generation of those growing up with satellite TV and a permanent home.
This feature documentary offers an overview of the changes experienced by the Inuit from 1950-1970 with their loss of sled dogs and semi-nomadic lifestyle. A controversial issue at the time, many Inuit still believe that their dogs were deliberately killed by the RCMP as part of government policy to force them off the land and into "civilization." Qimmit: A Clash of Two Truths explores how and why the sled dogs disappeared, a mystery that has left deep wounds across Canada's Arctic.
The fate of the arctic expedition by German geologist Hans Krüger, his assistant Age Rose Bjare and their Greenland Inuk guide Arqioq, which vanished somewhere in the frozen wilderness to the west of Ellsmere and Axel Heiberg islands in 1930, has obsessed travelers in Canada's north for 70 years. Filmmakers Henry Naulaq and Ole Gjerstad discover a dramatic new twist to the story. Naulaq, behind and in front of the camera, sets out on a search that take us from Greenland to Alaska and southern Canada to discover the truth about Aqioq, uncovering clues to substantiate rumours that Arqioq survived the expedition and was around when the Americans built their military base in Thule 20 years
