Frozen Bread?

Frozen Bread?

By SF Said

Friday, April 15, 2005

The good news first. The camera is OK. After its traumatic
shut-down during the blizzard scene, it reset itself overnight and is now
working fine. But will it function next time we try to shoot during a blizzard?
There's only one way to find out...

And the bad news is: we have no idea when the next
blizzard might be. There's no telling; the crew have to be ready to capture it
at a moment's notice.

"We have to hope we get another one," says co-director
Norman Cohn. "You don't get too many chances. But if we get it right, it'll be
something no-one's ever done before."

Filming has proceeded in much calmer fashion over the last
couple of days. On Thursday, we shot a big scene in Aua's igloo with 15 actors:
10 adults and 5 children, all Inuit from Igloolik.

At the moment that they entered the igloo, the children
whistled softly and grinned at each other. Some of them had never been inside
an igloo before; others had never seen one so big. I don't think they'll ever
forget that moment. There's a sign up in the Isuma office that says: 'SMILE:
IT'S ONLY A MOVIE!' - but at times like this, it feels like something much
bigger. Imagine being 8 years old, and acting in a film that gives you your
first experience of an igloo! Such moments are a crucial part of Isuma's project
- seldom remarked upon internationally, but clearly vital on the ground.

Today, we manage to shoot three scenes, in three different
igloos, as the shaman Aua (Pakak Innukshuk) shows the explorer Knud Rasmussen
(Jens Jorn Spottag) his world. The camera is hot and rolling; pages of script
are dispatched.

A couple of weeks ago, Jens confided to me that he was
worried about his part, particularly his command of the Inuktitut dialogue. He
needn't have worried. He has grown into the role of Rasmussen, embodying his
character's calm thoughtfulness, watching everything without judgement or
comment, just taking it all in. He also seems to have formed a bond with Pakak;
the two of them are often to be seen enjoying a quiet laugh together on set.

Mind you, this set doesn't lack for laughter. Zach Kunuk
seems to have taken his 'Director Eats Set' reputation as a challenge. He is
often to be found nibbling at the props. Today, he upped his game, turning his
hand to smoking the set - specifically, some tobacco in Aua's igloo that might
very well have been authentic 1920s tobacco, to judge from the smell it
produced.

Some readers of this blog have asked about my reference to
frozen bread in the last entry. Up at the igloos, everything freezes. To give
you an idea of what it's like here: I take a Nalgene bottle of water to the set
every day. And every day, the water turns to solid ice. You leave a box of
sandwiches out in the morning; by afternoon, they'll be frozen bread with
crunchy frozen filling.

But frozen bread isn't so bad. It's chewier and lasts
longer than regular bread. I think I'm getting to like it.