RAI FILM SEMINAR

Wednesday 7 December 2022,  5.00pm-7.00pm (GMT)

This is a hybrid event - publicly open to all.

→ To join us in person please register here
    Venue: The Birkbeck Institute of the Moving Image (BIMI) (see map below)

→ To join us on Zoom, please register here

Revisiting Nanook at 100 years:
Hugh Brody and Kirk French in conversation

Speakers:
Kirk French, a filmmaker and anthropology professor at Penn State University
Hugh Brody, an acclaimed writer, anthropologist, and filmmaker

To mark the centenary of Nanook of the North (1922), this seminar considers the legacy of one of the most important landmarks of documentary film history along with screening.  What started as a collaborative effort of Robert Flaherty and the Inuit of Inukjuak (ᐃᓄᒃᔪᐊᒃ) in northern Quebec, Canada, eventually launched Flaherty’s career as the “father” of documentary film.  Nanook started out with a hugely popular commercial release and decades followed of celebratory praise for the brilliance of its cinematography and the extraordinary film-making process.  However, the film has also become a lightning rod for critique and debate because of its “faked scenes”, imperial approach, paternalism and racial stereotypes that misrepresent the Inuit people and their way of life.
 
With so much written about Nanook, there is one glaring absence in film scholarship that has yet to be adequately addressed.  Flaherty was only a visitor amongst the Inuit who stayed for several years, fathered at least one child, then left to make an illustrious film career elsewhere and never returned.  However, many of the Inuit of Inukjuak, including Flaherty’s direct descendants, faced forcible relocation by the Canadian Government, alienation in residential schools and decades of hardship, whilst Nanook the film was being celebrated. 
 
In this seminar, we ask what can we learn about Nanook’s legacy from the Inuit community and the descendants of Flaherty’s Inuit children?  


Hugh Brody will share his reflections of his ethnographic research in the same area where Nanook was filmed from his recent book, Landscapes of Silence (2022).

And Kirk French will present a short film he helped prepare for the Nanook Centennial Committee in Inukjuak as part of their 100-year celebration. He will discuss his ongoing and larger film project called, A Century After Nanook.

---
Photo: Hanging the 100 Anniversary banner at the Inukjuak airport – May 31, 2022 (K. French)

---
Venue (clickable map):

The Birkbeck Institute of the Moving Image (BIMI)
43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Your support makes all the difference to the RAI

The RAI needs your support. We are an independent charity dedicated to anthropology. Please can you help us with our essential work by making a donation today. With your support we can continue to deliver our inspiring online events programme and run our flagship events (London Anthropology Day, the RAI Film Festival and our international conferences). We can continue our essential support of anthropological research, to care for our archive, manuscript and photo collections and develop our education programmes to create globally informed citizens. Thank you for your interest in this event, we appreciate you supporting the RAI.

To make a donation
Donate with PayPal
Or send a Text Message to add a donation to your monthly mobile phone bill or pay as you credit :
• Text RAISE 3 to 70085 for a one-off donation of £3
• Text RAISE 5 to 70085 for a one-off donation of £5
• Text RAISE 10 to 70085 for a one-off donation of £10
• Text RAISE to 70460 to set up a regular gift of £3 each month, helping fund our vital work long term.

For more information and terms & conditions please go to: https://www.therai.org.uk/support-us/donate 

Have you considered becoming an RAI Fellow? https://www.therai.org.uk/joining 
Many people from all over the world are affiliated to the RAI. We welcome anyone with an interest in the subject, whether working in an academic institution or not. Our affiliates include academic specialists, students, those working in fields where anthropology has practical applications, and those whose interest is captured by the subject matter of anthropology.

Want to hear more about the RAI's upcoming events? You can sign up to our mailing list here:
https://us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=94e3bf4c82be9b8d19299eb8a&id=f6438860ac