Tia is a Syrian refugee in Montréal who misses her grandmother, who is back in Syria, and has trouble making friends in her new world. She receives a book on life in the far north.
Soon, Tia discovers a portal in a building in the alley behind her uncle's grocery store. The portal takes her to Igloolik, Nunavut.
Tia meets Piujuq, a girl camping with her grandmother for the summer. Though Tia speaks Arabic and French and Piujuq speaks Inuktitut, the girls bond quickly in English.
Tia learns a lot about Piujuq's culture full of magic and myths. She then travels back to her world in Montréal. Her mother is very pregnant with her soon-to-be brother. The adults keep Tia sheltered from what is happening back home in Syria. The portal trips are an escape for Tia.
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Lucy Tulugarjuk (director, co-writer) tells the story on the level of the girls. Tia Bshara (Tia) and Nuvvija Tulugarjuk (Piujuq) have a comfort and simplicity that makes you root for them easily. And yes, Tulugarjuk is the director's daughter.
The film tells the story from the kids point of view without talking down to them or making the story sugary sweet. The joy of the story is how the girls see the world, with openness and willingness to learn about each other. Though Tia learns a lot about Piujuq's world, not so much about the other way around.
Tia and Piujuq is a good family film though parents should definitely watch with the kids to explain the Indigenous spirits and the talk of war in Syria. The idea of children learning about a world different from their own is a beautiful theme. Perhaps southern Canadians would appreciate the people of the north if they could understand their world on this level.
video credit: YouTube/IsumaTV
photo credit: Tia and Piujuq film
I just watched this movie and is so beautiful !!! It's so real so honest and sublime !!!
Posted by: Danny | February 25, 2022 at 03:11 AM