How it feels to play one of the first Inuk women in film

Yellowknife-born Inuvialuk actress Olivia Iatridis is Nancy in a new film about an Inuk who starred on the big screen more than a century ago.

Nancy focuses on the story of Nancy Columbia Palmer Eneutseak, an 18-year-old woman who wrote and starred in her own film, The Way of the Eskimo, in 1911.

Iatridis, in 2025, appears in a short film depicting Nancy seeing her film in theatres for the first time.

The story, set in the era of silent films, describes Nancy as the first recorded Indigenous screenwriter. Raised in an environment of show business after being born in an “Inuit zoo” at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Nancy pursued acting, film, and pageantry.

The Way of the Eskimo survived into the 1970s but the last of the tapes are now considered lost.

Iatridis told Cabin Radio even though the film was shot in a single day, she found a personal connection with Nancy’s story.

“I went to this talent event on a whim with my mom and I really liked it. I told her I was going to move to Vancouver and pursue my dream, and when I turned 18, I did move out here to Vancouver,” Iatridis said.

She spoke highly of the film’s director, Eva Grant, who sought to “reinterpret and humanize Nancy as an Indigenous woman and artist by focusing on her joy, pride, and hope for the future.” The crew consciously chose not to attempt to recreate any of The Way of the Eskimo’s content, noting the racist era in which it was produced.

Nancy was shot in three continuous takes, a new experience for Iatridis.

“It really felt like Nancy was there with me and her energy was positive, it helped me in my performance,” she said, adding her mother had helped her performance by making her a beautiful sealskin parka for the shoot.

Learning that Nancy was one of the first Indigenous people to be represented in the film industry was a pivotal moment for Iatridis. “She was one of the first, so it was very inspiring and a huge honour,” she said.

Iatridis has more projects coming up, including TV shows and film shoots, but said she can’t yet disclose more details.

Nancy is now circulating at festivals. It premiered at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in the same city on June 6.

Iatridis extended her thanks to the entire cast and crew, calling them “phenomenal” and expressing that “they do not get enough appreciation.”