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Movies & TV

>>> Angry Inuk

ANGRY INUK (Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Canada). 85 minutes. Rating: NNNN


Alethea Arnaquq-Baril is an Inuit furious at animal lovers opposed to the seal trade.

This doc makes it easy to understand why. The director takes her crew to her home village of Kimmirut, where hunting seals has been essential for survival. The Inuit eat the meat, often communally, wear the fur that’s essential for their protection and are economically dependent on the commercial seal trade.

Opponents of the seal hunt, almost none of whom have ever visited this kind of indigenous community, continue to perpetuate the fiction that the seals are endangered and count on those cute white seal dolls to engender sympathy for the animals, even though the white seal hunt has been banned for decades.

Arnaquq-Baril tracks the growing movement of Inuit to overturn the European ban. An especially moving moment comes when younger Inuit make an impressive presentation in Europe to members of parliaments.

Another running theme involves Arnaquq-Baril’s attempts to confront anti-seal-hunt activists. They refuse to respond every time she reaches out, and when they discover that she and other Inuit plan to make an appearance at a major rally in Toronto – they actually make the 2,000-kilometre bus ride – the anti-seal contingent cancels the demo.

Angry Inuk delivers important information about an issue we tend to think we know everything about and delivers a powerful emotional punch. 

Activist cinema at its best. 

May 2, 7 pm, TIFF 2 May 4, 1 pm, Isabel Bader May 7, 6:45 pm TIFF 1

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