With its epic scope and unique translation of ancient myth, Zacharias Kunuk's first feature-length work, Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), effectively upended preconceptions about cinema. His latest, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen - which he co-directed with his long-time collaborator, the cinematographer Norman Cohn - is a poetic account of the first contact between European explorers and the Inuit. Quite likely the first feature film depiction of this encounter from the Inuit perspective, the film is not only a startling work of art but a cultural and historical event. Beginning in the Arctic Circle in 1922, the film focuses on the ageing shaman Avva and his favoured, yet rebellious daughter Apak. Tensions within the family and the community at large are brought to the fore by the intrusions of a group of Danish explorers. When they meet, Avva is forced to explain his traditional beliefs.