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On the Other Side of the Screen is the story of an encounter between a young French researcher visiting an Inuit village and four Qamani’tuaq families. These four short films are the result of this encounter.

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On the Other Side of the Screen is about the construction of self-image in a post-colonial context in which identity is being pulled in opposing directions by rapid and radical structural changes caused by external forces. This village contains three generations with markedly different life experiences: the oldest generation was nomadic, living in igloos or tents and following the movement of the caribou, while the subsequent generation experienced colonisation, forced assimilation, the violence of boarding schools and sedentism. The most recent generation was born in the village, and has seen the arrival of a gold mine, salaried work and a uranium extraction project led by the French energy company AREVA.

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I came to the village with the aim of studying the impact of the mines on the lifestyle of the inhabitants. The umbrella research project, supported by the French National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS), is based on an approach of Participatory Action Research, seeking to adapt both research issues and methods to inhabitants’ concerns. While my original plan was to study the mine, once I was there I did not feel in a position to tackle that line of research. The mine is a taboo subject that divides families. A number of Western researchers have already come to the area to conduct this type of study, and the inhabitants were not thrilled about the idea of participating in workshops about the mine with a newly arrived foreigner … I quickly decided to leave behind my initial intention and to see what emerged during the encounters. It was through letting go and establishing trust with the people I met that created the energy that gave rise to this shared project. Over time, a video camera surfaced as the choice of tool to knit together the exchanges of our encounters and to tell a story, the story that each family chose to reveal: first to me, and later, over the course of the project, to future viewers.

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As the participants attempted to convey to a foreigner what Inuit identity means today, these encounters allowed the space for individual stories, yearning to be expressed, to take their place in the collective history of the Inuit.

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In this process, there were three passages from one side of the screen to the other:

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The first involved me, a Westerner, being propelled into an Inuit village in 2015, while all the books and films I had immersed myself in before arriving date from the beginning and middle of the 20th century. In particular, the work of the cultural anthropologist Jean Malaurie had fuelled my imagination. Likewise for my friends and family, who envisioned me living among seals, igloos and whale hunts. Although I was perfectly aware that the Inuit way of life had changed, I was nonetheless unable to realistically envisage the Inuit village where I ended up. By passing from one side of the screen to the other, the images captured in this project contribute to an updated understanding of the Western conception of the Inuit.

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The second involved me passing from one side of the camera to the other. The camera was always in my bag and was brought out when one of us wanted to capture a moment to share. Although at first I was the one who systematically instigated bringing out the camera, I increasingly found myself on ‘the other side of the screen’. During the time we spent together, our roles blurred and switched: it was no longer me filming ‘their lives’, but them filming my experience in their community. Thus, these films are not about the families I met, but were co-constructed with the families and are the result of this encounter.

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The third involved the families passing from spectators to actors. In recent years, television has filled the void left by the breakdown in social relationships in the village. Hours are spent in front of TV screens that transmit a Western projection of reality that has nothing to do with the lived experience of the Inuit in this village: shopping tips, series about young Americans immersed in consumer society … The fantasy that is created is one that the viewers here will never be able to achieve, aside from leaving their village to live in a big city to the south. In developing these short films, the idea came about for the families to pass from one side of the screen to the other, from being passive spectators confronted with images disconnected from their reality to that of actors, producing a self-image that appeals to them and that they want to project to others outside of their community. The image they have chosen to reflect does not include the village itself – too marked by forced sedentism – and instead gives priority to the tundra and to the bonds each has with this environment.

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The showing of these films springs from the common desire of all the participants to share these images. I am not sure I will be able to honour their request that the films be broadcast on French television, but I hope to at least arouse the interest of viewers who come across them to learn more about the history of the Inuit, as well as about what is happening to their culture today.

 

Above all, I hope you enjoy the films.