Iqaluit prepares to be seduced
Popular Quebec TV show plans to profile capital this summer
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Monday, May 4, 2015
IQALUIT
The Amazing Race Canada may have brought English Canada's attention North when the national show visited Iqaluit in 2013, but to get French Canada's attention, you need a little seduction.
The ICI Radio-Canada crew for La Petite Seduction including assistant director Stefanie Bélisle, left, director Stéphane Recheleau, screenwriter Luc Michaud, and researcher Geneviève Loiselle visited Iqaluit last weekend to prepare for filming the popular Quebec TV show next month. - photo courtesy of Carrefour Nunavut |
Nunavut's francophone community has successfully convinced ICI Radio-Canada to film La Petite Seduction in the capital next month.
Carrefour Nunavut has been working for about 18 months to convince the show to bring a francophone celebrity to the city as one of the few communities outside of Quebec featured on the program.
"The concept of the show is to visit a small community in Quebec and bring in a celebrity," said Carrefour communications officer Francois Fortin. "The community really gathers itself and organizes a big scenario to entice the celebrity and make him want to come again or come to stay in the community. It's big advertising for the communities."
Carrefour, which has a mandate to promote economic development in Iqaluit and Nunavut, was pitching to be on the show last summer, but Yellowknife was
chosen instead.
"Yellowknife started just before us so they got it last year," Fortin said. "When the 10th season was confirmed, we started working harder and now they are coming at the end of June."
The main crew visited the city last weekend.
"The director of the show, the assistant director, the researcher and the screenwriter came to scout around town," Fortin said, noting they met with people and saw the sights.
"We went to Sylvia Grinnell Park, Rotary Park, Road to Nowhere, seen the schools, the Francophone Centre, the legislative assembly, the statue commemorating the signature of the land claim agreement."
They'll film during the Alianait Arts festival at the end of June, with the show set to air at the end of July.
"This show is really a big advertisement for the community," he said, noting about one million people watch the show each week.
"It breaks a lot of preconceived ideas about the place, so it's a great opportunity to make Iqaluit known better. Show the good side of Iqaluit."
Because the show is in French, it will be driven by the francophone community, but Fortin says Inuit culture will be a major part of the show.
Five segments will be filmed, including a welcome from Mayor Mary Wilman, a town tour, a land trip, a surprise, cultural activities, and a party.
"It's like a reality TV show. It's really important to keep the spontaneity for the celebrity. So he comes in, does those five activities, and he is surprised and touched and (enjoys) each of these stages."
In order to secure the show, some fundraising had to be done locally, including providing flights and accommodations. Support from First Air, Nunavut Arctic College, Parks Canada, Arctic Consultants, Arctic Co-op, and the City of Iqaluit enabled the show to come.
The long-term benefits are not known, but Fortin said his counterparts in Yellowknife received double the inquiries after the show.
"Same for views and sessions on their website," he said. "Definitely we see an impact."
The organization is now looking for support from the community, and hosted its first planning meeting this week in advance of hosting the show next month.
