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'It's a huge thing': Film starring 2 Nunavik teens screening at Sundance Film Festival

Two teenagers from the Nunavik village of Kangirsuk want to show case their culture in a short film.

The short film Throat Singing in Kangirsuk will premiere Jan. 24

Manon Chamberland, 15, and Eva Kaukai, 18, singing on the tundra outside their home village Kangirsuk. (Wapikoni)

Two Nunavik teenagersare starring in a film about Inuit throat singing, which will be showing atthe Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

The three and a half minute film,Throat Singing in Kangirsuk,features Manon Chamberland, 15, and Eva Kaukai, 18, singing on the tundra outside their home village Kangirsuk.

"It's a huge thing," said Chamberland. "We had never heard about the Sundance before, but when we did it was so amazing."

Wapikoni, a production company that makes films about Indigenous youth, shot the video in February 2018.

Chamberland saidKaukai was working with the film company in the community. She asked Chamberlandto join her in the film as a throat singer.

"This is an Inuit village so every one of the young girls learns throat singing growing up," said Chamberland. "Our grandparents taught us throat singing to keep the generation alive."

Chamberland said they wanted to show how they are carrying on traditional Inuit culture in the video.

Watch the trailer for Throat Singing in Kangirsuk:

Though Chamberland and Kaukai shot the video in the winter, much of the short film shows Kangirsuk in the summer. Aerial drone shots show local hunters taking apart a caribou and young kids playing in the village.

"This is a great opportunity to show that we are here," said Chamberland. "That we have our culture."

Chamberland said it's hard for her to put into words just how much this video has impacted her life. Kaukaiand Chamberland will be traveling to Utah for the screening of the film on Jan. 24.

"Everyone in the village was so happy and excited about it," she said.

Throat Singing in Kangirsuk will be screened four times at the festival.