“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
“While Before Tomorrow becomes a fairly straightforward saga of Arctic perils, it also takes on a mythic quality, a sense of symbolism and spirits that seem to rise from the tundra.” — Jay Stone, National Post
Screened as part of NZIFF 2009
Before Tomorrow 2008
Le Jour avant le lendemain
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