Nyla Innuksuk facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nyla Innuksuk
Born	Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Film director

Nyla Innuksuk is a talented Canadian filmmaker, writer, and producer. She also creates amazing virtual reality experiences. Nyla is the leader of a company called Mixtape VR.

Early life and education

Nyla Innuksuk was born in Igloolik, a community in Canada's Arctic. She grew up in Iqaluit, another northern city. She later went to Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University). In 2009, she earned a degree in film production there.

Film projects

Nyla Innuksuk mainly creates short films, both documentaries and fiction stories. Her films often focus on the lives and experiences of Inuit and other Indigenous peoples. She loves to show the unique stories of communities in the Arctic. Nyla also makes sure that people from these communities help create the films. Her movies often highlight young people in Inuit communities. They also explore some of the challenges young people might face.

Nyla won a special competition called "Pitch This" from Telefilm Canada. She won for her project named Qalupalik. She was also a director-in-residence at the Canadian Film Centre. This means she spent time there learning and developing her skills.

Kajutaijuq (2015)

Nyla Innuksuk helped write and produce the film Kajutaijuq. It first showed at the Toronto International Film Festival. This short film was chosen as one of Canada's Top Ten Short Films in 2014. Kajutaijuq is a fiction film set in the Arctic wilderness. It follows a hunter, played by Johnny Issaluk, who uses traditional skills to survive. The film is also part of Reel Canada's Indigenous Programme. This program shares Canadian films with Indigenous themes.

Breaths (2016)

Nyla Innuksuk wrote and directed Breaths. This short documentary was made for Susan Aglukark. Susan Aglukark is a famous singer who received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award.

Slash/Back (2022)

Nyla Innuksuk wrote, directed, and produced the exciting sci-fi adventure film Slash/Back. This movie is set in the Arctic. It tells the story of a group of 14-year-old Inuit girls. They have to fight off an alien invasion in Nunavut. Slash/Back is special because it's the first feature film ever shot in Pangnirtung, Nunavut.

The film stars young actors from Iqaluit, Nunavut. These include Tasiana Shirley, Alexis Vincent-Wolfe, Nalajoss Ellsworth, Chelsea Prusky, and Frankie Vincent-Wolfe. Nyla and a team of 50 people filmed on Baffin Island in the summer of 2019.

Virtual reality projects

Nyla Innuksuk also creates amazing virtual reality (VR) experiences. VR lets you feel like you are really inside a different world.

Pinnguaq Productions

From 2015 to 2017, Nyla was a co-owner at a non-profit company called Pinnguaq. When Nyla joined, they started a new part of the company called Pinnguaq Productions. This group focused on virtual reality and 360-degree filmmaking. Their projects included filming the Pope's visit to Ecuador in 2015. They also made an interactive trailer for a film called Bang Bang Baby.

Nyla has worked with famous musicians like Tanya Tagaq and A Tribe Called Red. With A Tribe Called Red, she created a VR project called DocX: A Tribe Called Red: Indian City 360°. This experience lets you feel like you are the DJ and mix your own music track.

2167 project

Pinnguaq Productions worked with the Toronto International Film Festival and imagineNATIVE on a project called 2167. This project used virtual reality to ask artists to imagine what Canada might look like 150 years in the future.

Other creative work

Nyla Innuksuk also wrote a short story for a Marvel Comics comic book. The story was about a superhero named Snowguard. It appeared in the comic Marvel Voices: Heritage #1.

Filmography