Loss of language remains an issue close to the heart of many Inuit. To explain the loss of language within one鈥檚 own lifetime can be difficult, said Megan Kyak-Monteith, the co-director and animator of Grape Soda in the Parking Lot.
Taqralik Partridge, who also co-directs, tells the story of the loss of language to English within her own family, losing Gaelic through the loss of her grandmother and her father鈥檚 troubles keeping Inuktitut alive in himself.
鈥淢y father, sent away with tuberculosis for years and years, lost his language so he spoke only English,鈥� said Partridge in the short film. 鈥淔ound his tongue again but never lost the taste of English in his mouth.鈥�
The short film explores Partidge鈥檚 memories with her relatives, being Inuk and losing Inuktitut and an Inuk鈥檚 relationship with English.
The matter of losing one鈥檚 own language also resonated with Kyak-Monteith, who鈥檚 Inuk but also part Scottish.
鈥淲hen I was a kid back home when I could understand Inuktitut, to being able to understand it but not speak it, then now not being able to understand it. It鈥檚 nice to see other people put it into words, things I feel I still don鈥檛 know how to explain,鈥� said Kyak-Monteith, who鈥檚 originally from Pond Inlet.
鈥淧eople like my great grandmother who only spoke Inuktitut and I only speak English now. A lot of that has to do with me moving down south,鈥� she added.
鈥淚 think the whole thing has to do with reconnecting to Inuktitut, relearning it and what it means to her and I felt really attached to that as well.鈥�
In recent years she started working more with animation, previously working on another project in 2019.
鈥淚 usually work on oil paintings and started doing animations. I tried using materials I felt more comfortable using,鈥� said Kyak-Monteith.
She used oil pastels for her background, put a pane of glass on top, set up the camera on top and painted on the glass, taking pictures of each frame and editing as necessary. The process is a little messy, but she鈥檚 comfortable with it, she said.
鈥淚t took a while preparing for it, but now I think I鈥檓 ready to do more animations in the future.鈥�
The eight-minute short film Grape Soda in the Parking Lot is a part of the CBC Gem series How to Lose Everything, a series of animated short films by Indigenous peoples across Canada exploring the loss of their languages. Grape Soda in the Parking Lot is also available in Inuktitut.
The Pond Inlet filmmaker said she was able to meet with the other filmmakers in this series, and said she was proud to work with 鈥漰eople I really admire as animators and writers.鈥�
鈥滻t鈥檚 really nice to know we鈥檙e all making work together, all being Indigenous, all across Canada.鈥�
