Elisapie

Elisapie
blurry picture of Elisapie onstage in front of a microphone, with right hand help up to her chest
Isaac performing in 2011
Born
Elisapie Isaac

1977 (age 46–47)
Salluit, Quebec, Canada
Occupations
  • Musician
  • documentary filmmaker
Years active1989—present
Musical career
InstrumentVocals
Formerly of
Websiteelisapie.com

Elisapie Isaac (also known simply as Elisapie; syllabics: ᐃᓕᓴᐱ) is a Canadian Inuk musician, broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, activist, and actress.[1][2] She spent her childhood in Salluit, Nunavik, Quebec, and moved to Montreal in 1999 to pursue communication studies in order to become a journalist.[3]

Biography

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Born in Salluit, Quebec to an Inuk mother and a father from Newfoundland,[4] she performed at age twelve with the Salluit band Sugluk, one of whose members was her uncle George Kakayuk.[5] Isaac collaborated with instrumentalist Alain Auger in the musical project Taima (Inuktitut for "that's all" or "it is done"[6][7]) in the early 2000s. The band's sole album, Taima, won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2005. In 2006, Isaac wrote lyrics for songs composed by Bruno Coulais for the film The White Planet.[citation needed]

In 2010, Isaac's first solo album, There Will Be Stars, was released by Pheromone Recordings.[4] On the album, she sings in English, French, and Inuktitut. Her second solo album, Travelling Love, was released in October 2012 under the name Elisapie. During the Juno Awards, she was mistakenly nominated as Breakthrough Artist of the Year, before it was revealed that she had been a Juno winner in 2005; the nomination was rescinded and given to Shawn Hook instead.[8] She garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Original Song at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards for her song "Far Away", which appeared in the film The Legend of Sarila. At the Juno Awards of 2019, her album The Ballad of the Runaway Girl was nominated for the Indigenous Music Album of the Year.[9] In July 2019, the album was shortlisted for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize.[10] This album again contained lyrics in English, French, and Inuktitut.

Isaac has an extensive background in media production as well. When asked about her work in this medium in relation to her music, she has stated "I really believe that communication and radio was really a place for me to express my inner creativity, and I love that medium. And it has helped me to be a little more aware, especially when I have to be doing interviews and have a larger vision of my work than just the artiste point of view".[11]

In 2021, Isaac was announced to have landed her first onscreen acting role, in C.S. Roy's forthcoming augmented reality film, V F C.[12]

In 2023, she released the album Inuktitut, consisting of ten Inuktitut-language covers of classic pop and rock songs.[13] She won the award for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2024,[14] and the album was a shortlisted finalist for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize.[15]

On June 13, 2024, Canada Post released a series of stamps titled "Indigenous Leaders". One of them is dedicated to Isaac, marking her cultural contributions.[16]

If the Weather Permits

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Isaac's 2003 National Film Board of Canada documentary If the Weather Permits, filmed in Kangiqsujuaq, northern Quebec, looks at the changing lifestyles of Inuit in Nunavik. The film received several awards, including the Claude Jutra Award for best new director at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, and the Rigoberta Menchú Prize at the First Peoples' Festival.[2][17] It is included in the 2011 Inuit film anthology Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories.[18]

Personal life

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Isaac dated actor Patrice Robitaille from 2003 to 2011. In 2006, she gave birth to a daughter. She also has a son, born in 2014. In February 2018, she revealed that she was pregnant with her third child, a boy.[19]

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Award Category Nominee/Work Result Ref
2005 Juno Award Aboriginal Recording of the Year Taima Won [6]
2014 Canadian Screen Award Best Original Song "Far Away" (The Legend of Sarila) Nominated [20]
2019 Juno Award Indigenous Music Album of the Year The Ballad of the Runaway Girl Nominated [9]
2019 Polaris Music Prize Long List, Short List The Ballad of the Runaway Girl Nominated
2019 Félix Award Indigenous Artist of the Year Elisapie Nominated [21]
2020 Won [22]
2023 Juno Awards Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year Inuktitut Won [23]
2024 Polaris Music Prize Shortlist Pending [24]

Discography

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Taima

  • Taima (2004)

Solo

  • There Will Be Stars (2010)
  • Travelling Love (2012)
  • The Ballad of the Runaway Girl (2018)
  • Eaux turbulentes (2020) – television soundtrack, with Frédéric Levac[25]
  • Inuktitut (2023)

Filmography

[edit]

Acting roles

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 The Legend of Sarila Sedna Voice [26]
2020 Soul Miali Voice [26]
2023 V F C [12]

Filmmaking roles

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Year Title Credited as Notes Ref.
Director Writer
2003 If the Weather Permits Yes Yes Short documentary film [27]

References

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  1. ^ "Inuit pop, Algonquin rap, Innu reggae aim for mainstream". Agence France-Presse, October 8, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Profile: Elisapie Isaac". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  3. ^ "Isaac, Elisapie | Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites". inuit.uqam.ca. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Elisapie Isaac to play Iqaluit at month’s end" Archived October 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Nunatsiaq Online, March 8, 2010.
  5. ^ Dicknoether, Alan. "The First Talentshow Salluit: Forging a bond between generations". Above & Beyond: Canada's Arctic Journal. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  6. ^ a b George, Jane (February 27, 2004). "Isaac CD reaches wide audiences". Nunatsiaq News. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "Taima". Asuilaak Living Dictionary. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  8. ^ Patch, Nick (March 28, 2013). "Quebec singer Elisapie tries to laugh off being an ex-Juno nominee". Montreal Gazette. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  9. ^ a b "2019 JUNO Award Nominees". Juno Awards. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  10. ^ "Dominique Fils-Aimé, Les Louanges et Elisapie nommés sur la courte liste du prix Polaris". Voir, July 16, 2019.
  11. ^ "Elisapie: A Communication | Farah Joan". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  12. ^ a b Elsa Keslassy, "Canadian Producers C.S. Roy, Stéphanie Morissette Unveil Horror-AR Experience ‘V F C’". Variety, July 14, 2021.
  13. ^ "How Elisapie gave new meaning to 10 pop and rock classics by translating them into Inuktitut". Q, September 21, 2023.
  14. ^ "Junos 2024: full list of winners". CBC Music, March 23, 2024.
  15. ^ David Friend, "Calgary rock project Cindy Lee among acts shortlisted for Polaris Music Prize". Global News, July 12, 2024.
  16. ^ "Digest: New Stamps of Canada 2024, pt. 3". findyourstampsvalue.com. July 20, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  17. ^ "If the Weather Permits". Collection. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
  18. ^ "NFB and Inuit partners launch Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories" (PDF). Press release. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  19. ^ "La chanteuse Elisapie Isaac attend la visite de la cigogne" [Singer Elisapie Isaac Anticipating Stork Visit]. envedette.ca (in French). February 14, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  20. ^ Jeremy Kay, "Canadian Academy unveils nominees". Screen Daily, January 13, 2014.
  21. ^ "Le Félix de Florent Vollant : une fierté partagée". Ici Radio-Canada Côte-Nord, October 28, 2019.
  22. ^ Cédric Bélanger, "Gala de l'ADISQ: l'année des Cowboys Fringants". Le Journal de Québec, November 1, 2020.
  23. ^ "Junos 2024: full list of winners". CBC Music, March 23, 2024.
  24. ^ David Friend, "Calgary rock project Cindy Lee among acts shortlisted for Polaris Music Prize". Global News, July 12, 2024.
  25. ^ "BLIKTV sort la bande musicale de la série télé Eaux Turbulentes" [BLIKTV Releases Music from TV Series Eaux Turbulentes]. kkbox.com (in French). April 16, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Elisapie Isaac (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved January 17, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  27. ^ "If the Weather Permits". nfb.ca. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
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