Ame Siqiniq Papatsie’s hands fly over the paper. Swirling lines emerge from the tips of two pencils held loosely in both his left and his right hand. At first, the sketch Papatsie is creating seems abstract – an elongated Rorschach test. But in less than a minute he is finished, turning the drawing 90 degrees to reveal a beautifully realized portrait of his home village of Pangnirtung, on the eastern shore of Baffin Island.

An energetic man in his mid-forties, with long dark hair and a ready smile, Papatsie seems to take this astonishing display of drawing virtuosity for granted. He is more interested in talking about the film he is creating as part of the Nunavut Animation Lab.

Papatsie is one of four artists from northern Canada who will spend four months creating animated films at The Banff Centre this spring and summer. “My film is a very old traditional tale about Qalupalik, a sea creature who kidnaps kids who don’t pay attention to their elders,” he explains. “This is a big story in our culture. If a family goes camping or fishing, the mother will always tell this story to keep the kids safe: ‘Don’t go too far away or Qalupalik will get you.’”

In addition to his talents as a visual artist, Papatsie is a skilled leather-worker and mask-maker. For this reason, he has chosen to tell his story using stop motion animation, creating his characters from leather, and shooting some 25 frames for each second of finished film. Carefully nudging a tiny character in a kayak half a centimeter forward, he ruefully notes that “stop motion animation is a lot of work”, but that the texture and richness of the leather offer the best way to capture his story.

Papatsie is excited about the potential animation offers. “This is a way for Inuit to share our stories with the outside world,” he says.

Alethea Aggiuq Arnaquq-Baril agrees. Her film will also tell a traditional Inuit story. “I feel a great deal of responsibility to tell my story well … it is an important teaching story in our culture. … At one time, stories like this would be told every night. It might take several hours to tell, but no matter where you would go in the Arctic, the details would be the same.”

With a background as an illustrator and documentary filmmaker, Arnaquq-Baril is using simple yet evocative pen-and-ink sketches to create her film. Scanning the drawings into a computer, she will work with video editors and technicians in the Centre’s Creative Electronic Environment to bring the animation alive.

The Nunavut Animation Lab began in early 2007 with a series of workshops in Nunavut sponsored by the National Film Board (NFB) and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation. Out of the workshops, four artists were chosen to spend a week at Winnipeg’s National Screen Institute, followed by the four-month co-production residency with the Banff New Media Institute. During their time at the Centre, the emerging animators will access skilled filmmakers and mentors to develop, produce, and market their stories. Completed films will receive worldwide exposure through the NFB website, at festivals, and through broadcast on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

Both Papatsie and Arnaquq-Baril feel that one of the most important aspects of the Lab will be the legacy it creates. When their projects are complete, the animators, their equipment, and the skills they acquire in Banff will return to northern communities. “I think the impact will be huge,” says Arnaquq-Baril. Fellow Lab animator Jonathan J.K. Wright agrees. “When printmaking was introduced in the North 40 or 50 years ago, it resulted in a big leap forward for Inuit artists. I think animation has the potential to be the next big leap.”

Get a taste of several animation projects supported by the Centre at the Contemporary Aboriginal Animation event, August 9, 6:30 p.m., in the Telus Studio, as part of the Banff Summer Arts Festival.