Series/Festivals

The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat) and Nanook of the North Zacharias Kunuk; Robert J. Flaherty. (both unrated) Webster University's Indigenous Cinema series continues with two gems: the silent classic Nanook of the North and the innovative contemporary fable The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat). Engrossing throughout its nearly three hours running time, Fast Runner presents the Inuit fable of two bitter rivals in this ethnographic detailing of a nomadic, tribal existence and the rituals that make survival possible. Almost 80 years earlier, Robert J. Flaherty, the man called the "father of documentary film," directed Nanook and his Inuit family to reenact daily activities during the 1920-21 seasons on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay: building an igloo, a seal hunt plus the subsequent meat feast, tenderizing the seal skin, delight at a phonograph, sled dogs and family enduring a snowstorm and other daily struggles and joys. The Fast Runner screens at 7 p.m. Friday, October 8, preceded by a live video conference with director Zacharias Kunuk from Igloolik, Nunavut; Nanook screens 8 p.m. Saturday, October 9, in the Moore Auditorium on the campus of Webster University, 470 E. Lockwood Avenue. Call 314-968-7487 for more information. (Diane Carson)