Mosha Michael

Born in 1948 in an isolated camp near Apex (Niaqunngut), in Iqaluit, on Baffin Island in Nunavut, Mosha Michael is considered the first Inuit documentary filmmaker. He worked as a researcher, screenwriter, director, cinematographer, editor, narrator, composer, performer, and singer on three films produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). A survivor of the residential school system, he made his directorial debut at the age of 27 with the seven-minute short Natsik Hunting in 1975, a narration-free depiction of an Inuit seal hunt. This was followed by The Hunters (Asivaqtiin) in 1977, a first-hand account of a three-week hunting expedition in the Arctic, a rehabilitation journey undertaken by young offenders and their families. Recently rediscovered, restored, and digitized, Michael’s third and final film for the NFB, Whale Hunting (Qilaluganiatut) (1977), portrays the journey of six Inuit men on a beluga hunt near Iqaluit. All three of Michael’s NFB projects were shot on Super 8 and offer the rare perspective of a local filmmaker on the landscapes and practices of Baffin Island in the 1970s. He later worked for the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation and, in 1985, moved to Toronto to pursue his filmmaking career, enrolling in photography courses at Ryerson University. Unable to continue making films, he earned his living as a soapstone sculptor until his death in 2009; his ashes were scattered in the Apex River.