Lucy Tulugarjuk

Last updated
Lucy Tulugarjuk
Born (1975-02-28) February 28, 1975 (age 49)
Occupation(s)Actress
Throat singer
Director
ChildrenNuvvija Mikili Tulugarjuk
Relatives

Lucy Tulugarjuk (born February 28, 1975) is an Inuit actress, throat singer, and director. [2] She is executive director for the Nunavut Independent Television Network. [3]

Contents

Biography

Tulugarjuk is from Igloolik, Nunavut. [4]

Career

Tulugarjuk is known for starring in the 2001 film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner , [5] for which she won the award for Best Actress at the American Indian Film Festival. [6] In 2015, she acted in the film Maliglutit . [7]

In 2017 she directed her first feature-length film Tia and Piujuq (Inuktitut : ᑏᐊ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᐅᔪᖅ). [8] The film featured Marie-Hélène Cousineau as producer, and Tulugarjuk's daughter in the lead role as Piujuq. [9]

With Carol Kunnuk she was co-director, co-writer and co-star of Tautuktavuk (What We See) , which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023 and won the Amplify Voices Award for Best First Film. [10]

She performs as a throat singer, but in 2014 declined to perform for Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq in protest of the government's seismic testing. [5] That year, she wore seal skin at the Gone Wild show in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories to support Inuit culture. [11] In 2016, she also called for the resignation of Aglukkaq's successor as MP, Hunter Tootoo. [4]

She is executive director for Nunavut Independent Television Network, a service of Isuma based in Igloolik. [3] In 2021, Isuma launched Uvagut TV, a 24/7 online channel devoted to Inuktitut language programming, for which Tulugarjuk is managing director. Tulugarjuk reported that she sees the channel as "a tool for preserving and revitalizing the Inuit people's language and culture." [12]

Filmography

As actress

YearTitleRoleNotes
2001 Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner Puja
2005L'icebergNattikuttuk
2006 The Journals of Knud Rasmussen Nuvvija
2007IssaittuqTitle translated as 'waterproof'
2013 Maïna Aasivak
2016 Searchers 'Maliglutit' in Ikutitut. [13]
2018 Tia and Piujuq Tarriagsuk Ansaana
2020 Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice Young Shaman
2023 Tautuktavuk (What We See) Uyarak
2025 Untitled eighth Mission: Impossible film TBAFilming [14]

As filmmaker

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006 The Journals of Knud Rasmussen Writer, casting director, makeup artistCredited with writing the Inuktitut dialogue
2018 Tia and Piujuq Director, writer
2019 Restless River Co-producer
2023 Tautuktavuk (What We See) Co-director, co-writer, actorwith Carol Kunnuk

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult
2001 American Indian Film Festival Best Actress Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner Won
2023 Toronto International Film Festival Amplify Voices BIPOC Canadian First Feature Award Tautuktavuk (What We See) Won

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Igloolik</span> Hamlet in Nunavut, Canada

Igloolik is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on the peninsula. The name "Igloolik" means "there is a house here". It derives from iglu meaning house or building, and refers to the sod houses that were originally in the area, not to snow igloos. In Inuktitut the residents are called Iglulingmiut.

<i>Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner</i> 2001 film by Zacharias Kunuk

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner is a 2001 Canadian epic film directed by Inuit filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk and produced by his company Isuma Igloolik Productions. It was the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language.

Zacharias Kunuk is a Canadian Inuk producer and director most notable for his film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced entirely in Inuktitut. He is the president and co-founder with Paul Qulitalik, Paul Apak Angilirq, and Norman Cohn, of Igloolik Isuma Productions, Canada's first independent Inuit production company. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001), the first feature film that was entirely in Inuktitut was named as the greatest Canadian film of all time by the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival poll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leona Aglukkaq</span> Canadian politician

Leona Aglukkaq is a Canadian politician. She was a member of the non-partisan Legislative Assembly of Nunavut representing the riding of Nattilik from 2004 until stepping down in 2008; then was a Conservative Member of Parliament representing the riding of Nunavut after winning the seat in the 2008 federal election. She was the first Conservative to win the seat, and only the second centre-right candidate ever to win it. Leona Aglukkaq is the first Inuk woman to serve in cabinet. She remained an MP until she was defeated in the 2015 federal election by Liberal candidate Hunter Tootoo. Aglukkaq unsuccessfully contested the 2019 federal election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nunavut</span> Territory of Canada

Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which provided this territory to the Inuit for independent government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isuma</span> Production company

Isuma is an artist collective and Canada's first Inuit-owned (75%) production company, co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk, Paul Apak Angilirq and Norman Cohn in Igloolik, Nunavut in 1990. Known internationally for its award-winning film, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language, Isuma was selected to represent Canada at the 2019 Venice Biennale where they screened the film One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, the first presentation of art by Inuit in the Canada Pavilion.

The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) is a television production company based in Nunavut with programming targeted at the Inuit population of Nunavut. Almost all of its programs are broadcast in Inuktitut. Some are also in English. IBC shows centre on Inuit culture. The company has five production centers in Nunavut, all staffed by Inuit. Founded in the early 1980s, the IBC was the first indigenous-language television network in North America.

Norman Cohn is a U.S.-born Canadian film director, producer, cinematographer and editor best known for his work on films Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner and The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.

Madeline Piujuq Ivalu is a Canadian Inuk filmmaker and actor from Igloolik, Nunavut. One of the cofounders of Arnait Video Productions, a women's video and filmmaking collective in Nunavut, she co-directed, co-wrote and starred in Arnait's first feature film production, Before Tomorrow . She costarred in the film with her real-life grandson, Paul-Dylan Ivalu. Her codirector of the film was Marie-Hélène Cousineau, and both women cowrote the film with Susan Avingaq.

Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories is a 2011, two-volume DVD boxset, website and educational resource from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), bringing together films by and about the Inuit of Canada. The collection traces the development of filmmaking in Northern Canada, from the ethnographic films by NFB filmmakers in the 1940s, to contemporary work by Elisapie Isaac and other Inuit filmmakers.

Paul Aarulaaq Quassa is a Canadian politician who served as the fourth premier of Nunavut from November 2017 to June 2018. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, representing Aggu from 2013 until 2021.

Arnait Video Productions is a women's filmmaking collective that aims to value the voices of Inuit women in debates of interest to all Canadians. Arnait is related to Isuma Productions.

Marie-Hélène Cousineau is a Canadian film director and producer. Originally from Quebec, she moved to Igloolik, Northwest Territories in 1990, where she became a co-founder of the filmmaking collective Arnait Video Productions.

<i>Searchers</i> (film) 2016 Canadian film

Searchers is a 2016 Inuktitut-language Canadian drama film directed by Zacharias Kunuk and Natar Ungalaaq, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Based in part on the 1956 John Ford film The Searchers, the film is set in Northern Canada in 1913. It centres on Kuanana, a man who returns from hunting to discover that much of his family has been killed and his wife and daughter have been kidnapped.

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Celina Kalluk is a Canadian Inuk artist. She creates and performs in several mediums, notably the tradition of Inuit throat singing. In addition to her work as a musician, Kalluk has also worked as an actress, educator, and a children's author, publishing her debut work in 2014.

Mumilaaq Qaqqaq is a Canadian activist and former politician who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Nunavut in the House of Commons from 2019 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lori Idlout</span> Canadian politician

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Saqpinaq Carol Kunnuk is an Inuk actress and filmmaker from Canada, noted for her work with both Arnait Video Productions and Isuma Studios.

Tia and Piujuq is a Canadian family drama film, directed by Lucy Tulugarjuk and released in 2018.

References

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  2. "Lucy Tulugarjuk".
  3. 1 2 "Uvagut TV celebrates launch with live event in Igloolik Wednesday". Nunatsiaq News . 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 Zerehi, Sima Sahar (8 September 2016). "'Hunter Tootoo Resign!' petition wants to force Nunavut MP's hand". CBC News . Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  5. 1 2 Rohner, Thomas (8 August 2014). "Nunavut throat-singer Lucy Tulugarjuk refuses to perform for MP Leona Algukkaq". The Nunatsiaq News . Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  6. "OSU to host conference on Native American Language". Oregon State University . 1 May 2003. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  7. Gregoire, Lisa (17 March 2015). "Veteran Nunavut filmmakers shooting next feature production". Nunatsiaq News . Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  8. Ismaël Houdassine, "Tia et Piujuq, l’amitié sans frontières". Ici Radio-Canada Montreal, December 10, 2018.
  9. Asinnajaq (ᐊᓯᓐᓇᐃᔭᖅ) (15 April 2019). "Mother Tongue". Canadian Art. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  10. Christian Zilko, "American Fiction’ Wins People’s Choice Award at 2023 TIFF (Complete Winners List)". IndieWire , September 17, 2023.
  11. "Fort Smith, N.W.T. puts fur fashion on the runway". CBC News . 24 February 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  12. Warner, Andrew (26 January 2021). "Canada Launches First Indigenous-Language TV Channel". Language Magazine . Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  13. Byrnes, Bernie C (20 June 2017). "Canada Now: Maliglutit (Searchers)". Loose Lips: Cherry-Picked Pop Culture. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  14. Moreau, Jordan (22 March 2023). "'Mission: Impossible 8' Brings Back Rolf Saxon From Famous Vault Scene in the First Movie". Variety. Retrieved 23 July 2023.