IQALUIT
A group of Iqaluit middle school students brought their film club to Toronto on April 24, showcasing a few of their films at the Toronto Student Film Festival.
The bustling club meets once a week at Aqsarniit Ilinniarvik Middle School, and the Thursday after their return from Ontario was no different.
The trip had a few different elements, said Principal Donald Peters.
"We wanted to show some of the movies, we had five, but we also wanted to use the opportunity to bring the students to different businesses," he said.
From visits to the Globe and Mail and Cisco Systems Inc., to football drills with a CFL player, the week was exhausting but fun, according to some of the students.
"It was a great experience," said 13-year-old Katie Chislett-Manning. "My favourite part was the art gallery. I'd never been to a museum."
Among the roster of films were five films made by the Iqaluit students in the last few years. Chislett-Manning estimated there were about 100 people watching.
"It was exciting but I wish I had a chance to talk to all of them," she said.
While the student films were of different genres, Nmeso Manweze, 14, prefers the experimental kind. A member of the film club for almost four years now, Manweze said sometimes it's a little easier to get a point across in the experimental genre.
"You don't have the hindrance of a plot. It's a lot easier for me. It's a really organic way to portray emotion," she said.
Hope Carpenter, 13, just started film club this year. She also prefers experimental films.
"The comedies were funny but they didn't catch me the way the experimental ones did," she said.
While each member of the film club helps out on different aspects of shooting, including acting, everyone has to write their own story.
Carpenter's most recent was about bullying.
"It's a girl in school and people tease her all the time about her weight and she becomes anorexic," said Carpenter.
"Eventually she checks into rehab and does get better."
Peters said it was important to show the students what kinds of jobs are out there in related fields.
"There's a huge interest in the North right now and companies want people that are knowledgeable, these are the students they'll need," he said.
