Film from Nunavut in Canada's north to open TIFF

A film by Isuma Productions of Canada's north will open the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Produced by an Igloolik, Nunavut company, the film is titled The Journals of Knud Rassmusen, and co-directed by Zacharias Kunuk of Igloolik and Norman Cohn of Montreal.

The company received critical acclaim for their first film, Atanarjuat, which translates to The Fast Runner. Released in 2001, TIFF declared Atanarjuat one of the top ten Canadian films of all-time. The film grabbed awards at TIFF, Montreal, Chicago, Cannes, Edinburgh, San Diego, Lake Placid, New Port, and many others.

The film portrays the pressures on traditional Inuit culture when explorer Knud Rasmussen introduced European cultural influences to the area in 1922.

The film will play three times during the festival, debuting at the "Visa Screening Room" of the Elgin Theatre at 6:30 p.m. local time, Thursday, then at Roy Thompson Hall at 8:30 p.m. The next day, Ryerson University will show the film at 9:30 a.m.

The festival attracts independent filmmakers and Hollywood celebrities alike. It will run from 7 to 16 September 2006.