AtanarjuatThe Fast Runner
2001 • 2h 52m • Drama
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Virtual
Available until Jan 01, 2028
Available in US
On-demand
Available until Jan 01, 2028
Available Worldwide except CA
In-person
Available until Jan 01, 2028
Available in US
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About the film
First feature film written, directed, and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language, the story is set in Igloolik at the dawn of the first millennium, when nomadic Inuit were masters of the frozen arctic. Evil in the form of an unknown shaman divides a small community of Inuit, upsetting its balance and spirit. Twenty years pass. Two brothers emerge from the evil order: Amaqjuaq, the Strong One, and Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner. Atanarjuat wins the hand of the lovely Atuat away from the boastful son of the camp leader, Oki, who vows to get even. Oki ambushes the brothers in their sleep, killing Amaqjuaq, as Atanarjuat miraculously escapes running naked over the spring sea ice. But can he ever escape the cycle of vengeance left behind?
Stay Engaged
“Set in Igloolik, in Nunavut, this is ‘a powerful drama, not a documentary,’ … ‘It demystifies the exotic, otherworldly aboriginal stereotype by telling a universal story.’” — Zacharias Kunuk, director.
“‘We show how our ancestors dressed, how they handled their dog teams, how they argued and laughed… confronted evil and fought back.’” — Zacharias Kunuk, director.
Director
Zacharias Kunuk
Producer
Paul Apak Paul Angilirq, Norman Cohn, Zacharias Kunuk
Executive Producer
Sally Bochner
Writer
Paul Apak Angilirq
Crew
Norman Cohn, Paul Apak Angilirq, Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn, Marie-Christine Sarda, Chris Crilly, James Ungalaaq, Micheline Ammaq, Atuat Akkitirq
Awards & recognition
Cannes Film Festival 2001
Caméra d’Or (Best First Feature) – Winner
Cannes Film Festival 2001
Un Certain Regard – Official Selection
Genie Awards 2002
Best Motion Picture – Winner
Genie Awards 2002
Best Director (Zacharias Kunuk) – Winner
Genie Awards 2002
Best Screenplay – Winner
Edinburgh International Film Festival 2001
Guardian Award for First Directors – Winner
Toronto International Film Festival 2001
Toronto‑City Award for Best Canadian Feature Film – Winner
Flanders International Film Festival – Ghent 2001
Grand Prix of the Flemish Community for Best Film – Winner
Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal 2001
Special Jury Prize & Prix du Public – Winner
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival 2001
Best Film – Winner
What people are saying
‘"Winner of the Caméra d'Or last year at Cannes and a burgeoning international sensation, Zacharias Kunuk's first feature - as well as the first feature to be made in the Inuktitut language- is an epic account of an Inuit blood feud, shot on DV in northernmost Canada. Mysterious, bawdy, emotionally intense, and replete with virtuoso throat singing, this three-hour movie is engrossing from first image to last, so devoid of stereotype and cosmic in its vision it could suggest the rebirth of cinema. As the arctic light and landscape beggar description, so the performances go beyond acting, and the production itself seems little short of miraculous."‘
Jim Hoberman
‘"[Atanarjuat The Fast Runner] is a knockout ..a generational saga with many Homeric elements love, jealousy, rivalry between young contenders, extraordinary feats of strength, resentments passed from fathers to sons, and crimes that beget consequences years later."‘
Margaret Atwood
‘"Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) is an astonishing epic film made by and about the Inuit peoples of the Canadian arctic, telling a story of a crime that ruptures the trust within a closely knit group, and how justice is achieved and healing begins.…"‘
Roger Ebert
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