Lot 47 Films has acquired US rights to the highly acclaimed Inuit film Atanarjuat - The Fast Runner directed by Zacharias Kunuk. The first film ever written in the Inuit language, Atanarjuat won the Camera d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and has played in the Edinburgh, Telluride and this week's Toronto film festivals.

The deal was negotiated by Lot 47 president Jeff Lipsky and vice president of acquisitions Danae M Kokenos with the film's co-producer Norman Cohn.

Shot on digital video and blown up to 35mm Cinemascope, the film is set in the 16th Century in the Arctic region of Igloodik and tells a love story of an arranged marriage and the evil machinations of an evil shaman.

The 172 minute film was co-produced by Iglookik Isuma Productions and the National Film Board Of Canada's Aboriginal Filmmaking Program. It was written by Paul Apak Angilirq who also co-produced it with Kunuk and Cohn. Cohn also co-edited the film and acted as cinematographer.

The US release date of the film won't be announced until the official announcement by Canada as to which film will be designated its official entry for the 2002 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.