Zacharias Kunuk’s One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (pictured) has been selected to open this year’s imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.

The film, which will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows the true story of Inuit hunter Noah Piugattuk and his community in Kapuivik as they face pressures to assimilate into a modern settlement.

Earlier this year Kunuk received the Order of Nunavut, awarded to an individual citizen of the territory for their outstanding contribution to its cultural, social or economic well-being.

Closing the festival this year is The Sun Above Me Never Sets, the feature debut from Lyubov Borisova, which will have its North American premiere with imagineNATIVE. The film tells the story of a young man who strives every day to help his elderly neighbour look forward to life.

A number of TIFF selections have also been announced for the festival, including Jeff Barnaby’s Midnight Madness opener Blood Quantum; Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger; Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open; and Asia Youngman’s This Ink Runs Deep

The festival will announce additional programming in the coming weeks. imagineNATIVE recently picked up funding from Netflix as part of its $25-million development fund for creators, alongside the Indigenous Screen Office and Wapikoni Mobile.

imagineNATIVE runs from Oct. 22 to 27.

Image courtesy of imagineNATIVE