Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice

Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice
Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice
	Film poster
Directed by	Zacharias Kunuk
Written by	Zacharias Kunuk; Jonathan Frantz
Produced by	Neil Christopher; Jonathan Frantz; Zacharias Kunuk; Nadia Mike
Starring	Madeline Ivalu ; Jacky Qrunnut; Lucy Tulugarjuk
Cinematography	Evan Derushie
Edited by	Evan Derushie; Daniel Dietzel; Maia Iotzova
Music by	Beatrice Deer ; Sylvia Ipirautaq Cloutier
Production; companies	Kingulliit Productions; Taqqut Productions
Distributed by	Isuma
Release date	June 14, 2021(Annecy);
Running time	20 minutes
Country	Canada
Languages	English; Inuktitut

Last updated December 12, 2025

Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice is a 2021 Canadian animated short film, directed by Zacharias Kunuk.^[1]

Summary

A story about the traditional Inuit role of the shaman, the film centres on a grandmother (Madeline Ivalu) and granddaughter (Lucy Tulugarjuk) who travel to the underworld in an effort to heal an ill young hunter (Jacky Qrunnut).^[2]

Release

The film was released alongside a children's picture book of the story, written by Kunuk and illustrated by Megan Kyak-Monteith.^[3] The book was published in both English and Inuktitut; the latter edition won the 2021 Indigenous Voices Award for work published in an indigenous language.^[4]

The film premiered at the 2021 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Award.^[2] It had its Canadian premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Canadian Short Film.^[5]

Reception

The film was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2021.^[6] It was on a shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the 94th Academy Awards but ultimately was not nominated,^[7] and won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Animated Short at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.^[8]

It also won Best Independent Short Film at the Festival Stop Montreal.^[9]

References

↑ David Venn, "Zacharias Kunuk explores Inuit shamanism in short animated film". Nunatsiaq News , August 26, 2021.
1 2 Derek Neary, "Zacharias Kunuk examines shamanism in new animated film". Nunavut News , August 19, 2021.
↑ Allison Mills, "The Shaman’s Apprentice by Zacharias Kunuk; Megan Kyak-Monteith (ill.)". Quill & Quire , July 2021.
↑ Vicky Qiao, "Nathan Adler, Bevann Fox and jaye simpson among winners for 2021 Indigenous Voices Awards". CBC Books, June 22, 2021.
↑ Steve Pond, "‘Belfast’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award". TheWrap , September 18, 2021.
↑ Norman Wilner, "TIFF announces Canada’s Top Ten films of 2021" Archived 2021-12-06 at the Wayback Machine . Now , December 6, 2021.
↑ Pete Hammond, "Oscars Shortlists Out: ‘No Time To Die’ And ‘Dune’ Lead Mentions; France’s Palme D’Or Winner Snubbed". Deadline Hollywood , December 21, 2021.
↑ Greg David, "Corner Gas Animated, The Hardy Boys, Mary Berg and Canada’s Drag Race win during Night 3 of the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards". TV, eh?, April 6, 2022.
↑ The Shaman's Apprentice — Stop Motion Department

External links

Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice at IMDb

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[1] David Venn, "Zacharias Kunuk explores Inuit shamanism in short animated film". Nunatsiaq News , August 26, 2021.

[neary-2] 1 2 Derek Neary, "Zacharias Kunuk examines shamanism in new animated film". Nunavut News , August 19, 2021.

[3] Allison Mills, "The Shaman’s Apprentice by Zacharias Kunuk; Megan Kyak-Monteith (ill.)". Quill & Quire , July 2021.

[qiao-4] Vicky Qiao, "Nathan Adler, Bevann Fox and jaye simpson among winners for 2021 Indigenous Voices Awards". CBC Books, June 22, 2021.

[5] Steve Pond, "‘Belfast’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award". TheWrap , September 18, 2021.

[6] Norman Wilner, "TIFF announces Canada’s Top Ten films of 2021" Archived 2021-12-06 at the Wayback Machine . Now , December 6, 2021.

[7] Pete Hammond, "Oscars Shortlists Out: ‘No Time To Die’ And ‘Dune’ Lead Mentions; France’s Palme D’Or Winner Snubbed". Deadline Hollywood , December 21, 2021.

[8] Greg David, "Corner Gas Animated, The Hardy Boys, Mary Berg and Canada’s Drag Race win during Night 3 of the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards". TV, eh?, April 6, 2022.

[9] The Shaman's Apprentice — Stop Motion Department

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v t e Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for Best Animated Short, Best Live Action Short and Best Theatrical Short
Theatrical Short (1949–1996)	Who Will Teach Your Child? (1949) North Shore (1950) After Prison, What? (1951) Opera School (1952) L'Homme aux oiseaux (1953) Farewell Oak Street (1954) High Tide in Newfoundland ¹ (1955) Gold (1956) The Sceptre and the Mace (1958) Money Minters , The Quest and The Tall Country (1959) Royal River (1960) Universe (1961) Morning on the Lièvre (1962) Nahanni (1963) Anniversary (1964) Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle or Mutilate and Ça n'est pas le temps des romans (1968) Vertige and At Home (1969) A Matter of Fat and Blake (1970) Don't Knock the Ox (1971) This Is a Photograph (1972) Goodbye Sousa (1973) Along These Lines (1975) Cooperage (1976) Spartree (1977) L'Affaire Bronswik (1978) Nails (1980) The Strongest Man in the World (1981) Zea (1982) Elvis Gratton (1983) Ted Baryluk's Grocery (1984) Charade (1985) George and Rosemary (1988) Saeed (1991) Arrowhead (1994) Les fleurs magiques (1995) The Home for Blind Women (1996)
Live Action Short (1986–present)	The Edit (1986) I Need a Man Like You to Make My Dreams Come True (1987) The Mysterious Moon Men of Canada (1989) In Search of the Last Good Man (1990) Battle of the Bulge (1992) The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore (1993) The Hangman's Bride (1997) When Ponds Freeze Over (1998) Moving Day (1999) Le P'tit Varius (2000) The Heart of the World (2001) I Shout Love (2002) Noël Blank (2003) Capacité 11 personnes (2004) Milo 55160 (2005) Le rouge au sol (2006) Après tout (2007) Next Floor (2008) Danse Macabre (2009) Savage (2009) Doubles with Slight Pepper (2011) Throat Song (2012) Noah (2013) Hole (2014) She Stoops to Conquer (2015) Mutants (2016) Fluffy (2017) Fauve (2018) Pick (2019) Black Bodies (2020) Girls Shouldn't Walk Alone at Night (2021) Simo (2022) Motherland (2023) On a Sunday at Eleven (2024)
Animated Short (1968–present)	Un enfant...un pays ¹ (1968) Walking (1969) To See or Not to See (1970) Evolution (1971) Dans la vie... (1972) The Family That Dwelt Apart (1973) The Owl Who Married a Goose (1975) The Street (1976) Spinnolio (1977) Afterlife (1978) Every Child (1980) The Big Snit (1986) Get a Job (1987) The Cat Came Back (1989) Juke-Bar (1990) Strings (1992) Pearl's Diner (1993) La vieille dame et les pigeons (1997) Bingo (1998) When the Day Breaks (1999) Village of Idiots (2000) The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg (2001) The Hungry Squid (2002) Falling in Love Again (2003) Ryan (2004) cNote (2005) The Danish Poet (2006) Madame Tutli-Putli (2007) Isabelle au bois dormant (2008) Runaway (2009) Lipsett Diaries (2010) Romance (2011) Paula (2012) Subconscious Password (2013) Me and My Moulton (2014) The Ballad of Immortal Joe (2015) Blind Vaysha (2016) The Tesla World Light (2017) Animal Behaviour (2018) Giant Bear (2019) Hot Flash (2020) Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice (2021) The Flying Sailor (2022) Where Rabbits Come From (2023) Maybe Elephants (2024)
¹ These two films were given honorable mentions rather than officially winning the award, but are included here as no other winner was named above them.