Feel the Inukness
I’ve watched this twice today, and I think it will probably be a good idea to watch it at least daily from now on. Via Cameron Larios.
Info:
This quirky short film by Iqaluit filmmaker Becky Qilavvaq has caught a wave of viewers around YouTube recently. Feel the Inukness stars actor Anguti Johnston step dancing around Iqaluit to a Celtic jig, which is said to be similar to the footwork at Inuit celebrations. The work was well received by youth in the town, and Qilavvaq was awarded Ajjitt Media’s emerging filmmaker of the year.In an interview with Nunatsiaq Online, Qilavvaq spoke of a deeper message in the work: “It’s about being ourselves and embracing who we are … The message is essentially about not giving into the pressure to conform. … It’s difficult for a lot of Inuit with all the change we’ve lived in recent decades.”
I would like to think that the woman at the ATM got an extra $20 in her withdrawal for this.
I have not had the luck of seeing Cameron for many years, I hope she is doing well.
Okay, poorly phrased. I have not seen Cameron for many years, which is my misfortune.
I had a long conversation with her on Facebook a few months ago, so that was good. I think she’s not very online these days.
Ah, I love those jigs and dances! They fill you with a mad energy & joy. Please listen to that wonderful player of the Northumbrian pipes, Kathryn Tickell, playing ‘The Keel Row’ (on Youtube). If I am feeling a bit down in the morning, I play it, and it sets me up for the day.
This is the link to Kathryn Tickell playing the Keel Row*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tFaznuXjPM
Kathryn Tickell is magic on the Northumbrian pipes.
Thank you!
I’ll say this in advance: sorry to be a downer. I know I’m reading too much into it, not seeing it in the “right” spirit, but I can’t help my reaction.
Intellectually enjoyed the video, but there were two scenes in it I found jarring: the dancing protagonist coming up from behind on the woman alone at the ATM, and blocking the way of the woman alone in the hallway. I know it was supposed to be all in fun, but looking at it through eyes that have been sensitized (here at B&W, among other places) to the potential threat posed to all women by any man, I couldn’t help but find both of those scenes, initially, as instinctively threatening to the women. I’m equally divided between bittersweet surprise that my reaction was reflexive concern for the women (Yay! Go me!), and sadness at the loss of innocence that represented, that the ever-present possibility of male violence (in whatever perentage of males) has made that reaction necessary. I know this short film was supposed to be a light-hearted, whimsical, shared celebration of spontaneity, individuality, and exuberence, but I couldn’t help but think how in real life, those women could not afford to relax their guard like this, and what a perpetual drag on women’s freedom that represents.
This reminded me of the reactions that some women had to an interview, or blog/twitter /whatever post by the Dalai Lama not so long ago. He said something about how, if he had been alone in a the desert for a long time, he would greet the appearance of someone approaching in the distance with enthusiasm and joy. Many women commented on the male privilege that showed, and how, as women, their first concern would always be whether or not this approaching person was dangerous. In the video, the audience “knows” this guy is just someone having fun, a quirky, earthy, symbolic character infectiously spreading an appreciation for the enjoyment of life-in-the-moment, but the women in these scenes do not, and cannot know this. His approach to each, alone and isolated would, in actuallity, be perceived as threatening rather than inviting. It is not something I would dream of doing to women, and I found it alarming that this guy did. Those moments dropped me out of the happy, light-hearted fantasy altogether. If these scenes had been set outside (like the encounter with the man fixing his snowmobile, and coming across two the students), they would have worked better. But having the women alone and essentially trapped by the approach of the man just rang too many alarm bells. Shades of Rebecca Watson in an elevator. What a statement about our times. How sad is that?
Again, sorry for reading so (too?) much into this, and stepping outside the intended message and spirit of the film.
No, no apology required. I had the same reaction to both of those. The first one was especially open to that because of the way he kind of jumped at her, and the way she froze for a second. The second was ditto because of the way he came up behind her.