Our Team
Madeline Ivalu
Executive Producer – Director – Writer – Actor – Cultural Advisor – Musician
Madeline has been a key elder participant in all our productions since 1991. She is well known in Nunavut as a storyteller, musician, actress and writer. She often represents Inuit women in international events though different cultural organizations like Paukktutit and the Pan-Canadian Inuit Women’s organization. She co-directed Before Tomorrow as well as Uvanga, the first and second Arnait feature-length films, with Marie-Hélène Cousineau. They were honoured with the Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year’s Women in Film at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. Madeline lives in Igloolik, Nunavut.
Susan Avingaq (1942-2024)
Executive Producer – Director – Writer – Musician
Susan was a regular contributor to Arnait since 1991. A renown seamstress and artist in the Baffin region she was also active locally in teaching sewing traditions to younger Inuit women. Susan was born on the land and moved to Igloolik in the mid-1970’s, keeping her traditions alive and sharing her stories. She was the Art Director for Before Tomorrow as well as Uvanga and she co-directed Arnait’s latest award winning feature documentary SOL.
Atuat Akkitirq (1935-2022)
Costume Designer – Script Consultant – Actor – Cultural Advisor
Atuat was nominated for a Genie Award in the Best Costume Category for The Journals of Knud Rasmussen in 2007 and she won the Best Costume Category Genie Award in 2009 for her work in Before Tomorrow, in which she was also a supporting actress and cultural consultant. Beginning her career with Igloolik Isuma Productions in 1990, she starred in the lead role of the family elder for the internationally acclaimed 13-episode Nunavut (Our Land) series. In 1991, she began working with Arnait Video Productions as a script consultant and cultural advisor.
Marie-Hélène Cousineau
Producer – Writer – Director – Curator
Marie-Helene moved to Igloolik in 1991, where, with Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn, she founded the first video access centre in the Canadian Arctic, Tarriaksuk Video Centre. She established Arnait Video Productions with Madeline Ivalu and Mary Kunuk, to teach filmmaking to women in Igloolik. She co-produced and co-directed the awards winning feature films Before Tomorrow, Uvanga and SOL with her Igloolik colleagues. She served as consultant in the development of the Nunavut Film Commission. With an MFA in Communications from The University of Iowa, she taught at different educational institutions. She is now based in Montreal.
Mary Kunuk
Mary is an art teacher in Igloolik. She was involved in Arnait Video from 1993 to 2002 when she contributed to different pieces, documentaries and fictions and experimented with integrating animation and drawings in our films. She recently worked with the Igloolik elders in reviewing our archives, with the idea of sharing them with different communities.
Lucy Tulugarjuk
Producer – Writer – Director – Actor
Lucy has been involved in filmmaking for almost 20 years as an actress (Atanarjuat – The Fast Runner, Maïna) assistant-director to Zacharias Kunuk, make-up artist, casting director, television host. She knows very well the film industry in the North in front and behind the camera. She is also a founding member of Inuusiq, a Youth Drama group in Igloolik, that became Artcirq. She has travelled the world as an ambassador for Inuit culture. Originally from Igloolik Lucy now lives in Montreal, Quebec.