Alissa Matoo

Alissa Matoo is an emerging photographer and filmmaker who was born in Kuugjuaq (Churchill), MN. She was raised in Salliq (Coral Harbour) and Arviat, NU, where she attended John Arnalukjuak High School. 

Matoo has been a member of the Arviat Film Society (AFS) since age 15 [1]. AFS was founded in 2010 to support Inuit youth and students to explore education and careers in film and new media, in partnership with Isuma. Matoo’s work in her four years there has predominantly focused on editing and screenwriting. She hopes that, in future, the Arviat Film Society will have the opportunity to be part of a hands-on, collaborative film with Isuma [2].

In July 2019, one of Matoo’s photos was featured on CBC Nunavut. Untitled (Sunset Walking to a Friend’s Place) (2019) shows an empty residential road stretching to the horizon, the sun only a yellow stripe whose light is bounced from the cloudy sky to the frost on the roadway. 

Matoo was part of the delegation which travelled to Venice, Italy, in 2019 to observe Isuma representing Canada, the first Inuit group to represent Canada in the history of the Biennale. She also takes part in Arctic.Works!, an Indigenous-led training program which focuses on digital entrepreneurship and technology in the Arctic.