Groundbreaking Canadian Comedy Centers on Inuk Woman Navigating Life in a Small Arctic Town - Watch the Trailer for "North of North!"
True Detective: Night Country actress Anna Lambe stars in a new groundbreaking Canadian comedy about a newly separated Inuk woman navigating life, love, and her tight-knit Arctic community.
The term "representation" can sometimes come off as a little forced and preachy, especially nowadays when it's used so frequently in Hollywood circles that it has started to feel disingenuous or pandering. But every once in a while, when we come across something that genuinely feels like representation we haven't seen before, we can't help but sit up and take notice. It's not that representation is a bad thing. In fact, most people would agree that the best parts of storytelling in TV and film are the moments that take us, the viewer, to places we've never been before or will likely never get a chance to go, and introduce us to people we would have never thought of meeting or getting to know.
This brings us to a new Canadian comedy, set to release in January in North America, that not only breaks new ground but also takes "representation" to heart, being one of the first Canadian shows to feature an almost entirely Indigenous cast. One obvious comparison is that it might be considered Canada's answer to the critically acclaimed FX series Reservation Dogs. More importantly, the success of Res Dogs has paved the way for more Indigenous stories of this nature, not just in America but around the world.
North of North is set in a small northern Arctic town, focusing on a tight-knit community of Indigenous people. The show follows Siaja, a young newly separated Inuk woman, as she navigates the fallout from a public marriage breakup with the town's golden boy. Now living back home with her mother, Siaja tries to figure out the next stages of her life, balancing the challenges of being a new single mother to a young daughter and returning to the dating scene. The problem? How can she find new love when everyone in her small town already knows her business? As a comedy, viewers can expect a lighthearted tone as Siaja fumbles through her life struggles.
Siaja is played by Canadian Inuk actress Anna Lambe, whom you might have recently seen in the Alaska-set True Detective Season 4, titled Night Country. Lambe has also guest-appeared in a few episodes of ABC's Alaska Daily and Amazon Prime's Three Pines. Lambe is actually from Iqaluit, Nunavut, the northernmost territory of Canada, where North of North was filmed. Funnily enough, Lambe revealed that she even stayed with her parents while she worked on the show. The shoot was not only a homecoming but also a reunion of sorts, as many people in the town participated in the making of the series.
The show was co-created by Canadian Inuk showrunners Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, who both served as producers of the 2018 Canadian lacrosse drama The Grizzlies. Both Aglok MacDonald and Arnaquq-Baril are activists who have been advocating for more Indigenous stories to be produced. And as a result of the show, they have worked with their team to invest in a brand-new production space in the town of Iqaluit. Once completed, this studio will be the very first major Canadian production studio for film and TV in the North.
North of North is a co-production of Netflix, CBC, and APTN. It will start airing in Canada next Tuesday, Jan. 7, with new episodes weekly. The show is also expected to debut for U.S. audiences sometime in the spring on Netflix.
In addition to Anna Lambe, the cast also features Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), Maika Harper (Law and Order: Toronto), Braeden Clarke (Outlander), Jay Ryan (It: Chapter Two), Kelly William (Portraits from a Fire), Zorga Qaunaq, Doreen Simmonds (True Detective: Night Country), Tanya Tagaq (True Detective: Night Country), and Keira Cooper.
If you're interested in learning more, you might find these interviews promoting the show informative: