Hawaii International Film Festival 2009

After being diagnosed with tuberculosis, Tivii (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner), an Inuit hunter from Baffin Island, is unexpectedly forced from his isolated home terrain by Canadian authorities and quarantined in a Quebec City tuberculosis sanitarium. Concerned for his family's survival, isolated from everything he knows, and stuck in a confusing environment with people he cannot understand, Tivii slides into a deep depression and loses his will to live. Realizing the real threat to his wellbeing, Tivii's nurse orchestrates the transfer of Kaki, a similarly afflicted Inuit orphan boy, to the sanitarium. Kaki's presence invigorates Tivii's spirits. Having been separated from his native culture for years, Kaki is able to serve as Tivii's translator and bridge to the new world around him. In turn, Tivii takes a fatherly interest in Kaki, teaching him traditional Inuit customs and myths. Inspired by a real tuberculosis epidemic that broke out in the Inuit population in the 1950's, Necessities of Life won several awards at the Montreal World Film Festival, including a special Grand Prize of the Jury. - Jennifer Waihee