North of North series, made in Iqaluit, premieres at home

Nunavummiut packed Iqaluit's Astro Theatre Monday night to catch two sold-out screenings of a show that was filmed on their doorsteps.

North of North, a new Netflix series shot in Iqaluit, held its premiere in the Nunavut capital on Monday. 

The show, which was co-commissioned by CBC and Netflix in association with APTN,  takes place in the fictional community of Ice Cove, shot in Iqaluit. After a spontaneous, and public, exit from her marriage, the show's main character Siaja tries to find her way on her own. 

The series was co-created by Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril of Red Marrow Media, who also created The Grizzlies. 

"Bringing a show like this to a global audience is something that we couldn't even fathom or dream about in the very beginnings of creating this show," Aglok MacDonald said. 

Arnaquq-Baril said even though it's fictional, the show's story is relatable not only to other Inuit, but to people all over the world. 

"I think a lot of Inuit will definitely see the show and feel like they can recognize a lot of the characters, like that could be their mother, that could be their sister, that could be their boss. While it's fictional, it's definitely based on our life experiences," Arnaquq-Baril said. 

Anna Lambe, an actress from Iqaluit who plays Siaja, said she jumped on the opportunity to work with Arnaquq-Baril and Aglok MacDonald. 

"We're not just one thing in this show. We're, we're so many things, which is how we actually exist. And I think people are going to be really, really proud, really excited," Lambe said. "And I think we just deserve to have something really, really funny and see ourselves being funny because we are so funny," she said. 

With the show being made available to people all over the world through Netflix, Lambe said it's an opportunity to bring Nunavut to a global audience. 

"I think sometimes people only understand Inuit as like a historical people — [like] we don't exist anymore, we're something that happened in history and then we all got wiped out," Lambe said. 

"Our day-to-day lives might look a little bit different. It might look a little bit colder. But at the end of the day, we do all the same things. And we have goals and dreams and hopes. And, you know, all I want is for people to see Inuit as Inuit, you know, Inuit as people and that we have so many incredible, funny, exciting stories to tell and that we're still here."

"We're still here and we're going to stay here."

The show features actors from Nunavut and was shot in the spring of 2024.