Spotlighting National Film Board of Canada at the 2018 Victoria Film Festival

Three Thousand (Indigenous)
Sun, Feb 4| 9:00pm | The Vic

This amazing but somber trip through Inuit life, if not history, is very evocative. Not every outsider will understand this culture. Understanding this film seems difficult because there’s no narration, but the images do speak for themselves. The archival footage had no sound. Filmmaker and artist Asinnajaq had a difficult task to make this film accessible for those needing that extra element.

In the process of making the film, she said, “We added all those ambient sounds that give a sense of immediacy to the images, and lastly we added the music. Olivier Alary and I consulted extensively throughout the time the images were coming together. I heard his final music not knowing if it would fit exactly, but it completely does! It is subtle, somewhere between sadness and joy.”

The scenes of western civilization coming in to help can be a mixed bag. In what they offer, the subtext being revealed is left to interpretation. The third act is the most uplifting as this video moves from one medium to another, the animated form. The illustrations offer a new language for the senses to marvel at. In what Assinajaq reveals next is the future. It’s simply magical and very transcendental.

Author: Ed Sum

I'm a freelance videographer and entertainment journalist (Absolute Underground Magazine, Two Hungry Blokes, and Otaku no Culture) with a wide range of interests. From archaeology to popular culture to paranormal studies, there's no stone unturned. Digging for the past and embracing "The Future" is my mantra. View all posts by Ed Sum