THE GIRLS’ STORIES

In the film, Nuvvija plays Piujuq, and Tia plays…Tia!

Nuvvija  and Tia became really good friends as they filmed the movie. “Acting is a lot of responsibility and hard work,” says Nuvvija, “But there’s also a lot of waiting in between shots.”  So the two girls had plenty of time to develop a friendship. They even invented a secret handshake. Tia gave Nuvvija a special necklace with half a heart. Tia has the other half. This symbolizes their deep friendship. Both have travelled a lot and had to move to different cities and adjust to new lives. They come from Igloolik, Syria, and Montreal (find these places on the map). Both girls have some pretty interesting stories to share about those experiences and being in the film.

Photo provided by rawpixel on Unsplash

Nuvvija

Nuvvijja loves going to Igloolik to hang out with her “ananatiaq”, her Inuk grandmother. Her ananatiaq helped her practice her Inuktitut to play the role of Piujuq. One of Nuvvija’s favourite words:  “anaana” .  It means “mother” in Inuktitut. But it has a very different (and funny) meaning in French, which Nuvvija  accidentally found out after moving from Fort Smith to Montreal (watch the videos below to find out the meaning). What else has Nuvvija learned about Montreal? Well, she doesn’t have to watch out for the black bears of Fort Smith nor the polar bears of Igloolik. And people’s behaviours, some of the food, and the landscapes are very, very, VERY different from one place to another.  Which is kind of interesting, since all of these places are located in Canada. Nuvvija shares some of her impressions in these videos.

Tia

This is how you write “Little Red Riding Hood” in Arabic: : ليلى والزئب ليل

It was one of Tia’s favourite bedtime stories when she lived in Syria.  When you read stories in Syria, you read them from right to left. That’s just one cool thing that Tia’s new friends discovered when Tia went to live in a small Quebec town on the edge of the St-Lawrence River. Tia had to leave Syria like millions of other Syrian children because of the war in her country. Tia and her new friends also discovered that Syrian and Canadian children have a lot more in common than bedtime stories.  Like a love for poutine! And the French Québec accent. Tia shares some of her experiences and impressions in these videos.

Designed by Taqqut Productions Inc. Artwork by Germaine Arnaktauyok.

Copyright Sivumu Northern Productions, Arnait Video Productions 2019