Montreal – Atanarjuat star Natar Ungalaaq plays an Inuit hunter brought south for tuberculosis treatment in the ACPAV Productions feature Ce qu’il faut pour vivre (What It Takes to Live).

Bernadette Payeur (La neuvaine) of ACPAV and René Chénier (Hugo et le dragon) are producing the $4-million film, which wrapped a five-week shoot in Montreal in late December.

The French-language and Inuktitut film recounts the tale of Tivii, an Inuit hunter who loses the will to live during his stay at a Quebec City sanatorium in the 1950s. A nurse (Évelyne Gélinas) helps him by finding an Inuit boy (Paul André Brasseur) to talk to him.

‘Like many Inuit who had to leave their communities to recover from TB, Ungalaaq’s character is completely alone. He can’t communicate with anyone,’ says Payeur. ‘After speaking his language with someone, he decides to live.’

The biggest challenge was finding an Inuit child who spoke French.

‘We were looking around desperately then someone told us there was a boy in Montreal. We are so lucky to have found him,’ says Payeur. Although the 11-year-old Montrealer’s mother is Inuit, he had to learn Inuktitut for the film. ‘Natar Ungalaaq coached him. He’s such an excellent actor. Very generous.’

Ce qu’il faut pour vivre is directed by Benoît Pilon (Roger Toupin, épicier variété, Nestor et les oubliés) and written by Bernard Émond (La neuvaine). The film will be distributed by Seville Pictures (Good Cop, Bad Cop), likely to hit theaters in 2008.