Elisapie Explained

Elisapie
Birth Name:Elisapie Isaac
Birth Place:Salluit, Quebec, Canada
Years Active:1989—present
Module:
Embed:yes
Background:person
Instrument:Vocals

Elisapie Isaac (also known simply as Elisapie; syllabics: Inuktitut: 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

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.

In 2010, Isaac's first solo album, There Will Be Stars, was released by Pheromone Recordings. 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as Breakthrough Artist of the Year, before it was revealed that she had been a Juno winner in 2005; the nomination was rescinded and given to Shawn Hook instead.[8] She garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Original Song at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards for her song "Far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

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 .[18]

Personal life

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

YearAwardCategoryNominee/WorkResultRef
2005Juno AwardAboriginal Recording of the YearTaima
2014Canadian Screen AwardBest Original SongFar Away
2019Juno AwardIndigenous Music Album of the YearThe Ballad of the Runaway Girl
2019Polaris Music PrizeLong List, Short ListThe Ballad of the Runaway Girl
2019Félix AwardIndigenous Artist of the YearElisapie[20]
2020Elisapie[21]

Discography

Taima

Solo

Filmography

Acting roles

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2013The Legend of SarilaSednaVoice[23]
2020SoulMialiVoice
2023V F C

Filmmaking roles

YearTitleCredited asNotesRef.
width=65 Directorwidth=65 Writer
2003If the Weather PermitsShort documentary film[24]

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20130331224252/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hZfaVTdDdHtQbfTS6_8iqJRCHDVA "Inuit pop, Algonquin rap, Innu reggae aim for mainstream"
  2. News: Profile: Elisapie Isaac. October 7, 2016. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  3. Web site: Isaac, Elisapie Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites. June 3, 2021. inuit.uqam.ca.
  4. http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/8769_elisapie_isaac_to_play_iqaluit_at_months_end/ "Elisapie Isaac to play Iqaluit at month’s end"
  5. Web site: The First Talentshow Salluit: Forging a bond between generations. November 25, 2014. Above & Beyond: Canada's Arctic Journal. Dicknoether. Alan.
  6. Web site: George . Jane . Isaac CD reaches wide audiences . Nunatsiaq News . February 27, 2004 . June 12, 2020.
  7. Web site: Taima . https://archive.today/20130128013018/http://www.livingdictionary.com/term/viewTerm.jsp?term=49146547341 . dead . January 28, 2013 . Asuilaak Living Dictionary . May 15, 2010 .
  8. News: Quebec singer Elisapie tries to laugh off being an ex-Juno nominee . Patch . Nick . March 28, 2013 . . . March 28, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130329102443/http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Quebec+singer+Elisapie+tries+laugh+being+Juno+nominee/8164089/story.html . March 29, 2013 .
  9. Web site: 2019 JUNO Award Nominees . Juno Awards . March 12, 2019 . February 3, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190203033739/https://junoawards.ca/nominees/printer-friendly/?nomination-year=2019 . dead .
  10. https://voir.ca/nouvelles/actualite-musicale/2019/07/16/dominique-fils-aime-nommee-sur-la-courte-liste-du-prix-polaris/ "Dominique Fils-Aimé, Les Louanges et Elisapie nommés sur la courte liste du prix Polaris"
  11. Web site: Elisapie: A Communication | Farah Joan . February 26, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203042453/http://laparadiddle.com/2012/01/31/elisapie-a-communication/ . December 3, 2013 . dead .
  12. Elsa Keslassy, "Canadian Producers C.S. Roy, Stéphanie Morissette Unveil Horror-AR Experience ‘V F C’". Variety, July 14, 2021.
  13. https://www.cbc.ca/arts/q/elisapie-on-her-new-album-inuktitut-1.6971863 "How Elisapie gave new meaning to 10 pop and rock classics by translating them into Inuktitut"
  14. https://www.cbc.ca/music/junos/juno-awards-2024-full-list-winners-1.7149545 "Junos 2024: full list of winners"
  15. David Friend, "Calgary rock project Cindy Lee among acts shortlisted for Polaris Music Prize". Global News, July 12, 2024.
  16. Web site: Digest: New Stamps of Canada 2024, pt. 3 . findyourstampsvalue.com . July 20, 2024 . August 6, 2024.
  17. Web site: If the Weather Permits. Collection. National Film Board of Canada. January 3, 2012.
  18. Web site: NFB and Inuit partners launch Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories. Press release. National Film Board of Canada. January 2, 2012.
  19. Web site: La chanteuse Elisapie Isaac attend la visite de la cigogne . envedette.ca . February 14, 2018 . April 29, 2020 . fr . Singer Elisapie Isaac Anticipating Stork Visit.
  20. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1364733/felix-florent-vollant-adisq-fierte-partagee "Le Félix de Florent Vollant : une fierté partagée"
  21. Cédric Bélanger, "Gala de l'ADISQ: l'année des Cowboys Fringants". Le Journal de Québec, November 1, 2020.
  22. Web site: BLIKTV sort la bande musicale de la série télé Eaux Turbulentes . kkbox.com . April 16, 2020 . April 29, 2020. fr . BLIKTV Releases Music from TV Series Eaux Turbulentes.
  23. Web site: Elisapie Isaac (visual voices guide). Behind The Voice Actors. 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 opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information..
  24. Web site: If the Weather Permits . nfb.ca . April 29, 2020.