Director
Myna Ishulutak & Aïda Maigre-Touchet
Production
Myna Ishulutak, Impermanence Films
Language
Inuktitut
Year
2026
76 min, Documentary, Canada, 5.1
Every summer, three generations of Inuit gather in Itilli, their ancestral land in Nunavut. In the long Arctic summer light, a different sense of time emerges: children play across the vast tundra and learn to carry the teachings of their Elders and the land.
Every summer, brothers Jaco and Lasaloosee Ishulutak return to Itilli, their ancestral land in Nunavut, where the whole family gathers. Guided by the winds and tides, their journey can stretch over several days. There, observation and practice lie at the heart of Inuit ways of learning. The Elders teach the children to fish, sew and hunt caribou, so that they may share this knowledge with those who come after them. Gradually, a different sense of time emerges, shaped by the texture of light, the movement of stars, ripening berries, hands darting toward wriggling fish, and stories passed down from one generation to the next. Rooted in these vital, joyful acts of sharing, Itilli Gathering paints an expansive yet intimate portrait of a community deeply connected to the land.
Writing: Myna Ishulutak, Aïda Maigre-Touchet, Lasaloosie Ishulutak, Jaco Ishulutak
Cinematography: Aïda Maigre-Touchet
Sound Recording: Jerry Gordon Laisa, Benjamin Alivaktuk
Editing: Aïda Maigre-Touchet
Color Grading: Marc Boucrot
Sound Design: Olivier Calvert
Sound Mix: Jean Paul Vialard
Protagonists: Lasaloosie Ishulutak, Jaco Ishulutak, JD Alivaktuk
Myna Ishulutak
Myna Ishulutak is an Inuk filmmaker and Language and Culture instructor, originally from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada. The preservation of Inuktitut and Inuit knowledge lies at the heart of her practice. Her short and medium-length films — Tajarniit, Qipisa, and Tupiq — weave together oral storytelling with the transmission of hunting and fishing techniques, capturing the vital importance of time spent on the land, where knowledge passes from one generation to the next. Told as an intimate first-person account, Qipisa screened at international festivals and won awards across Canada. Itilli Gathering, co-directed with Aïda Maigre-Touchet, is her debut feature.
L’été d’Itilli, 76 min, Documentary, 2026
Qipisa, 35 min, Documentary, 2016
Tajarniit, 30 min, Documentary, 2008
Aïda Maigre-Touchet
Aïda Maigre-Touchet directs documentaries and essay films, presented at international festivals and in theaters. Steeped in her friendships and the places she has lived in or traveled through, her work questions our relationship to existence and the environments we live in. She has filmed in the Arctic (Kiyukta, Itilli Gathering) and in Haiti (Elegy of Port-au-Prince, Song of a Seer). Her films have been selected at Visions du Réel, Cinéma du Réel, the New Filmmakers section of the Mostra de São Paulo and the Future/Present section of VIFF, as well as RIDM, Alternativa, and Ji.hlava IDFF. Itilli Gathering, co-directed with Myna Ishulutak, is her second feature film.
Itilli Gathering, 76 min, Documentary, 2026
Les flâneries du voyant, 72 min, Documentary, 2018
Élégie de Port-au-Prince, 12 min, Documentary, 2011
Forêts, 5 min, Experimental, 2008
Kiyukta, 40 min, Documentary, 2008