19 Facts About Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril was born on May 9,1978 and is an Inuk filmmaker, known for her work on Inuit life and culture.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril is the owner of Unikkaat Studios, a production company in Iqaluit, which produces Inuktitut films.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril was awarded the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross, in 2017 in recognition of her work as an activist and filmmaker.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril was born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril's mother is an Inuk teacher with a Masters in Education and her father was a radio broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and later a senior manager in Information Technology.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril completed animation training at the Banff Centre in a program offered by the National Film Board of Canada.

In 2011, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that, with most of Inuit culture passed on through oral history, her goal was to record that history "while the last elders that traditionally lived on the land are still alive".

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril began her film career as a producer with the documentary James Houston: The Most Interesting Group of People You'll Ever Meet and as co-producer of The Experimental Eskimos.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril wrote and directed her first film, an animated short film sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada, titled Lumaajuuq: The Blind Boy and the Loon, which was released in 2009.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril subsequently wrote a children's book based on the film with illustrator, Daniel Gies.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril directed her first full-length film, Tunnit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos, a personal documentary about her journey to explore the lost tradition of Inuit facial tattoos or kakiniit.

Between 2011 and 2018, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril has worked on five other films in various roles as producer, director and screenwriter.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril produces Inuit cultural documentaries and Inuktitut films through her own production company, Unikkaat Studios.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril previously co-owned Tajarniit Productions, a collaborative project with Inuit women filmmakers Myna Ishulutak, Jolene Arreak and Stacey Aglok MacDonald.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril was named by the Toronto International Film Festival as one of Canada's most important women filmmakers in 2017.

In 2017, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril was awarded Canada's Meritorious Service Cross, "in recognition of her work as an activist and filmmaker".

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril embarks on a personal journey, interviewing members of the Inuit community.

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril directed Inuit High Kick, a 2:48 documentary of Inuk athlete Johnny Issaluk performing a one-foot high kick in slow motion.

On December 1,2016, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril received the DOC Vanguard Award from the Documentary Organization of Canada.