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IQALUIT - A new documentary centred around the life and accomplishments of Iqaluit environmentalist Sheila Watt-Cloutier aired twice last week on APTN.

The one-hour film, titled SIILA: The Life and Work of Sheila Watt-Cloutier, is part of the network's Reel Insights series. The series explores contemporary aboriginal culture through the lens of new aboriginal filmmakers.

Environmental activist, 2007 Nobel Prize nominee and role model Sheila Watt-Cloutier stands in a field with her uncle Johnny Watt. - photo courtesy of Julie Grenier

Director Julie Grenier of Kujuak created the film from interviews and footage captured since 2003 but the film also contains archival footage dating to 2002. The documentary was produced by Taqramiut Productions. It is her first feature documentary.

Grenier's film chronicles Watt-Cloutier's work on the issues of climate change and persistent organic pollutants, including the petition she filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights along with 68 other Inuit from Nunavik, Nunavut and Alaska in December of 2007 in Montreal.

"We get an idea of who Sheila is, how she grew up and the changes that she went through, the struggles she overcame and the work that she's done in recent years," Grenier said.

"She became a role model for me as I got to know her more and what kind of work she was doing and I hope that she can become a role model for other people in the world."

The film documents a number of the awards and honours Watt-Cloutier has received for her work including the 2005 Sophie Prize, an international environmental award established by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder.

Members of Watt-Cloutier's family also appear in the film.

"In terms of leadership she spoke about being a woman leader and the struggles that we face as women especially in a leadership position being surrounded by, generally, a male-dominated (environment)," Grenier said.

"I really hope that people can understand more in depth what it is that she does and the importance of her work on a people level. She's known internationally but at home people don't necessarily know what it is exactly that she does."