Screened as part of NZIFF 2009

Before Tomorrow 2008

Le Jour avant le lendemain

Directed by Madeline Ivalu, Marie-Hélène Cousineau

“An Inuit boy and his beloved grandmother struggle to survive the Arctic wilderness… a profound, elemental and hauntingly beautiful period drama that makes an intimate story of endurance into a metaphor for an entire culture.” — Variety

Canada In Inuktitut with English subtitles
93 minutes 35mm

Producer

Stéphane Rituit

Screenplay

Marie-Hélène Cousineau
,
Madeline Ivalu
,
Susan Avingaq. Based on the novel Før Morgendagen by Jørn Riel

Photography

Norman Cohn
,
Félix Lajeunesse

Editors

Norman Cohn
,
Marie-Hélène Cousineau
,
Félix Lajeunesse
,
Louise Dugal

Art director

Susan Avingaq

Costume designer

Attuat Akkitirq

Sound

Richard Lavoie
,
Arnaud Derimay

With

Madeline Ivalu (Ninioq)
,
Paul-Dylan Ivalu (Maniq)
,
Peter Henry Arnatsiaq (Apak)
,
Mary Qulitalik (Kuutujuk)
,
Tumasie Sivuarapik (Kukik)

Festivals

Toronto, Pusan 2008; Sundance 2009

Elsewhere

Before Tomorrow is the first feature from the Arnait Video Collective, a group dedicated to honouring ‘the unique knowledge and perspectives of Inuit women’. Covering the final months in the life of the canny old Ninioq (co-director Madeline Ivalu) as she nurses her ailing friend and calmly prepares her 10-year-old grandson to face an arduous winter and the responsibilities of manhood, it's a devastatingly moving reclamation of imperilled culture. Superbly shot in Canada's icy North, the action unfolds ca. 1840 as the Inuits hear the first reports of white foreigners. — BG

“A profound, elemental and hauntingly beautiful period drama that makes an intimate story of endurance into a metaphor for an entire culture... the deceptively simple script... brilliantly reflects the cultural and spiritual values of the Inuits. In particular, the traditional stories Ninioq tells her grandson take on a heart-rending resonance.” — Alissa Simon, Variety