Origins - Festival of First Nations
Qallunaat – Why White People Are Funny - (14 May - Ciné Lumière 6.15pm)
Funny? What's so funny about white people, otherwise known as Qallunaat to the Inuit? Well, among other curious behaviours, Qallunaat ritualistically greet each other with inane salutations, repress natural bodily
functions, complain a lot about being cold, and seem to want to dominate the world.
This docucomedy is collaboration between filmmaker Mark Sandiford and Inuit writer and satirist, Zebedee Nungak.
Zebedee is CEO and head researcher of the mythical Qallunaat Studies Institute (QSI).
According to Nungak, "Qallunaat ought to be the object of some kind of study by other cultures. The more I thought about
the way they have studied us over the years it occured to me, why don't we study them?"
Why White People Are Funny is a humbling portrait of what it must feel like to be the object of
the white man's gaze. Fresh and orginal, this film has that rare ability to educate with wit.
- 52 minutes
- Director: Mark Sandiford. Canada 2006. National Film Board of Canada
Venue 3: Ciné Lumière, 17, Queensberry Place, London SW7 £9 (£7). 020 7073 1350.
www.institut-francais.org.uk
Screening with:
Wapikoni mobile
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