Mosha Folger
b. 1978 Ottawa, ON/Iqaluit, NU —
Films and filmmaking have been an integral part of Ottawa-based Mosha Folger’s life since infancy. His father, Ed Folger, was a filmmaker in the 1960s and 1970s and Mosha notes that while growing up “we were exposed to foreign films, [including] French films, Italian films and Japanese films.” The dramatic cuts and unconventional perspectives of cult-classics such as Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 anime feature Akira inspired Folger’s early stopmotion productions like The Big Lemming (2014), a short film that uses stark imagery of a snow-covered landscape and a driving viola soundtrack to reveal that even the lemming has power and place in the mythology of the Arctic.
His most recent documentary Iglu:Angirraq (House:Home) (2018) centres on the unique experiences of homelessness among Inuit in Iqaluit, NU. Folger himself is intimately tied to this story both through his former step-mother Annie Iola and his own experiences with “hidden homelessness” and overcrowded housing. Interspersed with interviews from numerous Iqaluit residents about their experiences, Iglu:Angirraq follows Iola’s story, spanning from her early life in tiny matchboxstyle social housing as a young girl in the 1960s to her living on the streets of Ottawa, ON, and then to presentday Iqaluit, where despite having a good job, she is still unable to secure residence due to the housing crisis and inaccessibility of units in the capital city. The director hopes the film sheds light on the stories of individuals living under the crushing weight of homelessness in the Arctic. “It was an educational endeavor,” he explains. “I wanted to help people who knew the story to tell it and to try and reach a wider audience.” – Napatsi Folger