Natar Ungalaaq

Natar Ungalaaq (born 1959) is a Canadian Inuit actor, filmmaker, and sculptor whose artwork is in many major collections of Inuit art worldwide. Before playing the lead roles in Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) and The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre) (2008), Ungalaaq played major roles in other Canadian and American films, including Kabloonak (1995), Glory & Honor (1998) and Frostfire (1994). He is also producer and director of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation.

Natar Ungalaaq
Born1959
Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada
Years active1991–present

He was the carving buddy of director Zacharias Kunuk before they sold their handmade objets d'art to buy their first camera gear in 1981 and start a production company based in an Inuit community that didn't even have a TV.

Natar is also a renowned carver. He began carving when he was 9 or 10 years old, using his grandfathers tools. A carving of a Sedna made of white soapstone, "Sedna with a Hairbrush 1985", is featured in the National Gallery of Canada's collection.[1]

In 2016, he made his debut as a director, codirecting the film Searchers with Kunuk.[2]

Filmography
Year Title Role
1994Frost Fire (TV)Inuit
Trial at Fortitude BayTommy
1995KabloonakMukpullu
1998Glory & Honor (TV)Ootah
2001Atanarjuat: The Fast RunnerAtanarjuat
2004Sleep Murder (TV)Jimmy Tarniq
2006The Journals of Knud RasmussenNuqallaq
2008The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre)Tiivii
2013MaïnaTadio
2016IqaluitNoah
2018The GrizzliesPete

Awards

Ungalaaq was awarded the Best Actor award at the American Indian Movie Awards[3] in 2002 for Atanarjuat.[4] He won the Genie Award for Best Actor at the 29th Genie Awards for his role in Ce qu'il faut pour vivre.[4][5] He also won the Jutra Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and the Best Actor award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival for the same performance.[4] In September 2009, Ungalaaq was presented with an award of distinction by the Nunavut Film Development Corporation.[6] This award recognized Natar's body of work and his contribution to Nunavut's film community.[7] In 2016, Ungalaaq won Best Indigenous Language Production (2016) for "Maliglutit (Searchers)" at the ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.[8]

References
  1. Inuit Art Quartlery- Vol 8. No 3 Fall 1993- http://www.inuitart.org/pdf/IAQ%20Articles/Tools,%20Training,%20Quarrying/Interviews/V8N3_Interview_Natar%20Ungalaq%20talks%20about%20his%20art%20&%20his%20goals.pdf%5B%5D
  2. "Nunavut directors head for the red carpet at TIFF". Nunatsiaq News, August 15, 2016.
  3. American Indian Movie Awards
  4. "Natar Ungalaaq". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  5. Reuters, Blair Gable. "Natar Ungalaaq was named best actor, for his role in The Necessities of Life". www.montrealgazette.com. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  6. "Natar Ungalaaq: Achievements". Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  7. Nunatsiaq News- http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article_print/7998/ Archived 2018-01-14 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "2016 Award Winners A — imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival". web.archive.org. 2017-05-21. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
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