Alliance Atlantis' MotionPicture Distribution has acquired Canadian rights to The Journals Of KnudRasmussen, Zacharias Kunuk andNorman Kohn's follow-up to Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner.

The film, which beginsprincipal photography on April 4 in the high Arctic, is an epic tragedy ofInuit culture lost in the tide of European civilization. The context is the1920s-era trans-polar expedition of Danish ethnographer Knud Rasmussen.

A presentation of Kunuk CohnProductions, Igloolik Isuma Productions and Barok Film (Copenhagen), the filmis written by Kunuk and Kohn and produced by them along with Barok's VibekeVogel and Elise Lund Larsen. The cast includes Pakak Innukshuk, Leah Angutimarik, Neeve Uttak, SamuelieAmmaq, Abraham Ulayuruluk, Natar Ungalaaq, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, SofieDanielsen, Piuaitsoq Petersen, Jakob Cedergren, Jens Jorn Spottag, Kim Bodniaand Pierre Lebeau.

"We are thrilled to beassociated with Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn and their groundbreakingfilmmaking style", says Patrice Theroux, President and COO, MPD. "We areconfident The Journals Of Knud Rasmussen will be yet another successful contribution to the best of Canadiancinema." The film will be released in the Spring or Summer of 2006.