The Journals of Knud Rasmussen

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The Journals of Knud Rasmussen
DVD cover
Directed by	Zacharias Kunuk Norman Cohn
Produced by	Lucius Barre Norman Cohn Zacharias Kunuk Elise Lund Larsen Stephane Rituit Vibeke Vogel
Written by	Eugene Ipkarnak Madeline Ivalu Herve Paniaq Pauloosie Qulitalik Lucy Tulugarjuk Abraham Ulayuruluk Louis Uttak
Starring	Pakak Innuksuk Leah Angutimarik Jens Jørn Spottag Neeve Irngaut
Music by	Richard Lavoie
Cinematography	Norman Cohn
Editing by	Cathrine Ambus Norman Cohn Félix Lajeunesse
Distributed by	Alliance Atlantis SF Film
Release date(s)	March 11, 2006 (Igloolik screening) September 7, 2006 (Canada) October 8, 2006 (USA) November 10, 2006 (Denmark)
Running time	112 min.
Country	Canada Denmark
Language	Inuktitut Danish English
Budget	$6,300,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen is a Canadian and Danish film, which premiered on September 7, 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival, after screenings in Inuit communities in Canada and Greenland. The film was also screened at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

Directed by Zacharias Kunuk (who also directed the award-winning Atanarjuat) and Norman Cohn, the film depicts the pressures on the traditional Inuit culture when explorer Knud Rasmussen introduces European cultural influences during his "Great Sled Journey" in 1922.

The film's cast includes Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Pakkak Innushuk, Natar Ungalaaq, Neeve Uttak, Pierre Lebeau, Therkel Mathiassen, Peter Freuchen, Kim Bodnia and Jens Jørn Spottag.

[edit] Synopsis

An epic tragedy set in and around Igloolik in the 1920s, as the last great Inuit shaman and his beautiful and headstrong daughter struggle to survive the sweep of civilization that brought Christianity and commerce to the arctic and irrevocably changed Inuit life. Witnesses to their story are Danish ethnographer and explorer Knud Rasmussen and his traveling companions Therkel Mathiassen and Peter Freuchen.