Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Pelly Bay (May 30/05) - The film Through These Eyes was shown in Kugaaruk for the first time recently.

The new Canadian film explores the controversy around the American-funded "Man: A Course of Study" (MACOS) educational film series from the 1960s. The original series focused on the Netsilik Inuit of the Kugaaruk region.

At the time, two vocal American congressmen and some parents raised concerns over scenes of hunting and fishing, and eating raw fish. As a result, funding was withdrawn for the nine-part film series and it stopped being used in American schools.

The new film mixes clips from the old series, with new footage from Kugaaruk, including six people featured in the 1960s series.

Filmmaker Charles Laird, producer Bonnie Thompson and National Film Board executive director Graydon McCrea travelled to Kugaaruk for the showing.

Laird had previously spent six days filming in Kugaaruk, but it was the first time to the region for Thompson and McCrea.

"It is important to go back to the community, but it is also the most terrifying part, hoping for public acceptance," Thompson said.

The film was shown twice - once for the six people in the film, and again for members of the community.

"We wanted to make sure participants in the film were in a comfortable environment and away from public attention," Laird said.

Although people knew the contents of the film, the public showing was the first time they had the chance to see the final product.

More than 50 people gathered in the community hall for the public showing.

Vincent Ningark was the Kugaaruk community liaison for Through These Eyes and helped advertise for the film.

"There was a great response to the film," he said. "People really enjoyed it and enjoyed seeing their community and community members in the film."

The film is predominantly in English, with English subtitles during Inuktitut dialogue.

In the 1960s film, the only permanent structure was the stone church. Community members, including the filmmakers, lived in iglus.

In the new film, Barthelemy Nirlungayak, Sidonie Nirlungayak and Ovide Alankannuak recount meeting the original film crew and sharing their ways of fishing, cooking and sewing.

"There were chuckles from the crowd about the interactions between people in the film, especially the reactions from some Americans," Laird said.

While more than 40 years have passed since the controversy surrounding the series began, the new film shows the former American congressmen have maintained their views.

Last word

"Sidonie (Nirlungayak) was very pleased to have the last words in the film," Laird said. "She ended it by talking about the importance of sharing her culture with young people."

The film visitors to Kugaaruk capped off their three-day stay by participating in a fishing derby. Although Laird said they didn't catch anything, they enjoyed visiting with their camping family and the more than 1,000 people who gathered for the derby.