“of the North Pulled from RVCQ Program: A Continuing Debate” — Voir, Feb. 8, 2016 (English Translation)
I am not a professional translator, but I have done my best to give as close an English interpretation as I could manage for those who wanted to respond to it. I welcome any corrections. This article appeared on the Voir website on February 8.
Programmed then suddenly removed from the festival Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québecois, Dominic Gagnon’s of the North continues to be talked about. We discuss it with the festival director, Dominique Dugas, and with Stephen Agluvak Puskas, who is campaigning for the film not to be screened
Jean-Baptiste Hervé 8 février 2016
Dominic Gagnon has been under fire from critics since the film’s premiere in November at the last Rencontres internationales du documentaire (RIDM). The artist, who uses a collage-and-montage approach, here assembles images of Inuit populations in hardly glorious scenes. In November, singer Tanya Tagaq was one of those who revolted against this film, which portrays a culture and people that has already endured its own share of humiliations.
At Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois (RVCQ), the film was scheduled to be presented after a formal mise-en-context [placing in context] and followed by a discussion. But at the last minute, explained Dominque Dugas, the screening had to be removed from the program. “We wanted from the beginning to create the conditions for projecting this film in our festival. It was necessary to create a place of dialogue and understanding. We contacted some people from the Inuit and First Nations and felt a deep uneasiness. It was from that moment impossible to make possible the necessary conditions to project of the North.
Is this a case of censorship? The intention of the RVCQ is laudable after the strong reactions the film prompted. But if the dialogue between the director and those he depicts is what we truly want, the decision to pull the film can be seen as a step in the wrong direction, and raised eyebrows Wednesday morning among those invited to the press conference unveiling the RVCQ’s programming.
“We don’t need this film to establish a dialogue,” responds Stephen Agluvak Puskas, one of the activists attempting to make sure the film is not projected. He is behind a petition that makes its share of theoretical arguments. “This is not a film about the Inuit to provoke a discussion. In November, the RIDM did not invite any member of that community to discuss the film. Dominic Gagnon continues to travel the world with his film without ever inviting any Inuit to contribute to the discourse.”
Who’s telling the truth? The director affirms that, as for the RIDM, he “would have loved to have people from the Inuit community present (they were invited) for a constructive debate.”
[TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: I interviewed RIDM Executive Director Mara Gourd-Mercado and Artistic Director Charlotte Selb following the screening in November for an article about the film and the controversy around it. I was accompanied by Stephen Agluvak Puskas, who was conducting his own research for a story about the film on the Inuit community radio show Nipivut on Montreal’s CKUT-FM, to which he is a contributing producer. Gourd-Mercado told us that they had not contacted or invited any Inuit organizations, though Gourd-Mercado stressed, “We did invite Inuit people — we gave away tickets to the Centre d’Accueil des Femmes Autochtones, which is an organization we work with throughout the year.” I hadn’t heard of this organization, so we agreed she would get back to me later with its formal name. In an email on November 30, she clarified that this organization was The Montreal Native Women’s Shelter. I contacted MNWS executive director Nakuset to confirm this and on the same day she told me that the MNWS had not received any such invitation or tickets. It is possible that Gagnon invited Inuit in Montreal himself, though he has not said so.]
“This film reinforces stereotypes against people who are already marginalized,” says Stephen Agluvak Puskas. “It contains scenes that sexualize Inuit women at a time when these Inuit women are disappearing and being murdered. It’s dangerous and irresponsible.”
Here already is an example of the arguments made by this Concordia University researcher, who reminds opponents that this film is the latest in a succession of vulgar representations following decades of prejudice and bad press about the question.
[TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: by “la question” I presume the writer means “The subject of Inuit and Inuit culture, society, and tradition.” I’m not certain.]
“I hear people talking about censorship. I want to remind people that Dominic Gagnon himself has engaged in censorship in the trailer of this film the voice, in which the voices of speaking Inuit on screen have been silenced.”
[TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: This isn’t just in the trailer: there are a number of scenes in of the North in which Inuit are speaking but their words have been dubbed over with music or noises.]
Thus, on one side there is real ethical concern about the representation and ways of establishing a dialogue with the Inuit. On the other side, there is a film that will not be seen. At its base, it’s worrying all the same.
