'Journals of Knud Rasmussen' to open Toronto film fest

The Toronto International Film Festival will open with the world premiere of The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, the highly anticipated second film from Zacharias Kunuk.

Kunuk, who won critical acclaim for Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, directed the film with Norman Cohn, who was also co-writer, producer and cinematographer on Atanarjuat.

The 2006 Toronto International Film Festival runs Sept. 7 to 16.

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen again tackles an Inuit story. It is the tale of Awa, one of the last great shamans, his daughter, and their struggle to survive the changes brought on by Christianity and commerce in the early 1920s.

They're visited during that period by the Danish explorer and ethnographer, Knud Rasmussen, who is part Inuk. Rasmussen spent 30 years exploring the Arctic regions, was the first European to travel the Northwest Passage by dog team, and collected Inuit folk tales, songs and poetry, preserving a fast-disappearing way of life.

The script was based on Rasmussen's journals and on interviews with Inuit elders who remember the period. The film was shot in and around Igloolik, 850 kilometres west of Iqaluit, in April and May 2005.

A Canada-Denmark co-production, it stars Pakak Innukshuk, Abraham Ulayuruluk and Natar Ungalaaq, who were also in Atanarjuat. 

"Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn have created a truly visionary work of art," said TIFF co-director Noah Cowan in a statement. "They have again redefined the scope and visual palette of Canadian film, while telling a profound and moving story."

Atanarjuat won five Genie awards and the best Canadian feature award at Toronto's film festival in 2001, as well as a clutch of international awards.

Prior to its screening at the festival, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen will screen in Inuktitut to Inuit communities in Canada and Greenland.