Giant Bear

Brother Bear

October 2003 •English

When an impulsive boy named Kenai is magically transformed into a bear, he must literally walk in another's footsteps until he learns some valuable life lessons. His courageous and often zany journey introduces him to a forest full of wildlife, including the lovable bear cub Koda, hilarious moose Rutt and Tuke, woolly mammoths and rambunctious rams.

I Am But a Little Woman

June 2010 •Inuktitut

Inspired by an Inuit poem first assigned to paper in 1927, this animated short evokes the beauty and power of nature, as well as the bond between mother and daughter. As her daughter looks on, an Inuit woman creates a wall hanging filled with images of the spectacular Arctic landscape and traditional Inuit objects and iconography. Soon the boundaries between art and reality begin to dissolve.

From Darkness

June 2002 •English

A lonely fisherman drifts into haunted waters in search of food and finds much more than he bargained for. Based on an Inuit folktale.

The Shaman's Apprentice

June 2021 •Inuktitut

A young shaman must face her first test: a trip underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, who holds the answers to why a community member has become ill.

Three Thousand

October 2017 •English

Inuit artist Asinnajaq plunges us into a sublime imaginary universe—14 minutes of luminescent, archive-inspired cinema that recast the present, past and future of her people in a radiant new light. Diving into the NFB’s vast archive, she parses the complicated cinematic representation of the Inuit, harvesting fleeting truths and fortuitous accidents from a range of sources—newsreels, propaganda, ethnographic docs, and work by Indigenous filmmakers. Embedding historic footage into original animation, she conjures up a vision of hope and beautiful possibility.

Death in the Spring

February 1980 •English

In this animated short the artist tells the story of an Inuit hunter who clubs a seal pup on the ice and then later dies himself. The film's ethereal images are created and transformed in sand.

Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves

January 2011 •Inuktitut

It begins as an average hunting trip for two young men, but when they find themselves lost, the only safe haven to be found for miles—a mysterious village filled with the sounds of drum dancing and revelry—turns out to be even more dangerous than the frigid ocean.

Animation from Cape Dorset

January 1973 •English

This collection assembles the first animated films to be made by Inuit artists at the NFB. Featured is work by Solomonie Pootoogook, Timmun Alariaq, Mathew Joanasie, and Itee Pootoogook Pilaloosie—all participants in the Cape Dorset (Baffin Island) Film Animation Workshop, established to teach animation skills to local artists. The soundtrack features performances by Aggeok and Peter Pitseolok. Commentary is provided in a blend of Inuktitut and English.

The Legend of Sarila

February 2013 •English

Three young Inuits set off in search of a promised land to save their clan from starvation.

One Who Has Two Souls

April 2015 •French

He was called "He Who Has Two Souls". He was beautiful as a woman. And handsome as a man. He hesitated.

Neige

March 2015 •French

Shaman

June 2017 •English

This animated short tells the story of a ferocious polar bear turned to stone by an Inuk shaman. The tale is based on emerging filmmaker Echo Henoche's favourite legend, as told to her by her grandmother in her home community of Nain, Nunatsiavut, on Labrador's North Coast. Hand-drawn and painted by Henoche in a style all her own, Shaman is the first collaboration between the Labrador artist and the NFB.

Islet

February 2003 •English

For an Inuit fisherman, technology means absurdity. Floating out on a block of ice, he doesn't have any other choice to grab onto some flying fish to save himself.

Somewhere in the Arctic...

June 1986 •English

A polar bear is hunted by Eskimos. But suddenly the hunt gets interrupted. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

The Bear Facts

June 2010 •English

In this animated short, a self-important colonial explorer emerges from a sailing ship and plants a flag on the Arctic ice, as a bemused Inuit hunter looks on. Then the explorer plants another, and another, and another, while the hunter, clearly not impressed that his land has been “discovered,” quietly goes about his business. In this charming and humorous re-imagining of first contact between Inuit and European, Jonathan Wright brings us the story of a savvy hunter and the ill-equipped explorer he outwits.

Grape Soda in the Parking Lot

May 2023 •English

Taqralik Partridge asks what if every language that had been lost to English — every word, every syllable — grew up out of the ground in flowers? Taqralik’s grandmother’s Scottish Gaelic and her father’s Inuktitut unfold in memories of her family, of pain, and of love.

The Woman Who Raised a Bear as Her Son

December 1990 •English

Animated Canadian film.

The Amautalik

January 2014 •English

Two young friends are spending a day away from their camp. Unfortunately for them, an ancient land spirit -- an amautalik -- is also in the area. Luckily for them both, one of the children's difficult life has taught him to think quickly.

Lumaajuuq

January 2010 •English

This animated short is a tragic and twisted story about the dangers of revenge. A cruel mother mistreats her son, feeding him dog meat and forcing him to sleep in the cold. A loon, who tells the boy that his mother blinded him, helps the child regain his eyesight. Then the boy seeks revenge, releasing his mother’s lifeline as she harpoons a whale and watching her drown. Based on a portion of the epic Inuit legend “The Blind Boy and the Loon.”

Ogress of the Gravelbank

January 2015 •English

Inuit oral history is filled with strange beings and supernatural creatures. One of these feared land spirits is the Ogress of the Gravelbank. This cruel being was known to lure children into her lair and trap them there. All that perish in that cave remain there as spirits and animated corpses. This short vignette introduces viewers to this malevolent spirit who is unknown to all but the people of the far north.