Cost is $7 per screening.
Wednesday
7:30 PM “Matariki”
(Drama) NZ, Directed by Michael Bennett, 2010, 93 min
A random act of violence leaves eight people in crisis, searching for hope and new beginnings, as the Matariki constellation (Maori New Year) rises in the Southern skies.
Thursday
7:00 PM “Vanishing Point”
(Doc) CDN, Directed by Stephen A. Smith and Julia Szucs, Inuktun with English titles, 2012 – 82 min
This documentary tells the story of two Inuit communities, one on Greenland and the other on Canada’s Baffin Island. The communities are linked by a migration led by an intrepid shaman Qidtlarssuaq.
9:00 PM Wapikoni Mobile Shorts
Film Descriptions: Wapikoni Mobile
Wapikoni Mobile is a traveling film studio whose mission is to teach, mentor and produce films in Northern Aboriginal Quebec communities. WM’s current aim is to create a series of permanent studios and to form the first Aboriginal film cooperative. During the past 12 years WM has produced over 500 productions and have won over 60 national and international awards.
“In Your Heart”
(Animation) CDN, Directed By Raymond Caplin, 2012, 3 min
A young guitar player puts his heart into his music.
“Blocus 138”
(Innu Resistance) (Doc) CDN, Directed by Real Jr. Leblanc, French with subtitles, 2012, 7:17 min
This short documentary details the Innu people’s fight against the exploitation of their territory and their struggle to preserve the culture for future generations.
“Fusion”
(Comedy) CND, Directed by Erik Papatie, French with subtitles, 2012, 4 min
When Erik wakes up he realizes he has lost his memory. With the help of Beaver the Dog, he is thrown into a strange race against time.
“Huis Clos”
(Doc) CND, Directed by Delia Gunn, French with Subtitles, 2012, 9:21 min
On a beautiful day Delia and her family look back on their inner struggles.
“Koski Kiwetan”
(Going Back To Where We Came From) (Doc) CDN, Directed by Anne Dube and Lorraine Eshaquan, Cree with Subtitles, 2012, 7 min
Atikamekw travelers speak about the challenges they face on the road and at home.
“Las Dos Magalys”
(Doc) CDN – BO, Directed by Magaly Noza Moye, Spanish with subtitles, 2012, 10:25 min (PG)
The true story of a young woman who discovers the truth about her origins as she struggles to break an old cycle of violence against women.
“Meskano”
(The Path) (Doc) CDN, Directed by Debby Flamand, French with Subtitles, 2012, 5:19 min
Debby worries about her daughter. Together, they decide to take a 120km walk between two First Nation Communities
“Micta”
(Experimental) CDN, Directed by Marie-Pier, Elisa Moar, 2012, 1:24 min
“And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful” – A visual treatment of The Little Prince quote by Saint-Exupery.
“Pipiteu”
(White Ashes) (Doc) CDN, Directed by Ernest “Aness” Dominique, French with Subtitles, 2012, 3:30 min
A painter expresses the history of his people through his work.
“Sakitakwin”
(Freedom) (Experimental) CDN, Directed by Kevin Papatie, French with Subtitles, 2012, 3:35 min
A film made entirely by projecting images on water.
“Utshestiapi Akushun”
(Huntington’s Disease) (Doc) CDN, Directed by Jean- Babiste Pinette, Innu with Subtitles, 2012, 8 min
Jean- Babiste Pinette (Innu) and his brother Johnny share a heavy family medical history
“Wish Upon a Star”
(Drama) CDN, Directed by Russel Ratt, 2012, 6:12 min
A mother, slot machines and her lucky star.
Correcting the Chalkboard
(Corriger Le Tableau) (Experimental) Canada, Directed by ENSEMBLE for the Respect of Diversity. French with English Subtitles, 2012, 5 min
On a blank chalkboard, youth from Manawan rewrite the stories of their lives.
Friday
5:30 PM “Brave New River”
(Doc) CDN, Directed by Nicolas Renaud, English, French and Cree with subtitles, 2012, 67 min
Before the new dam was built, the Rupert River was a majestic torrent; today, it’s barely a big creek. The land surrounding this river in the James Bay basin is home to both Hydro-Québec workers and the Cree. Steering clear of reductionist arguments or activist rage, Nicolas Renaud listens to people and explores their history and their land.
7:00 PM Heart of the Sky Heart of the Earth”
(Doc) DE, USA, GT, Directed by Frauke Sandig, Spanish with subtitles, 2011, 98 min
The location of the world’s largest—and possibly toxic—gold-mine pit, Guatemala is also the homeland of the Maya and their decidedly holistic cosmology. Frauke Sandig and Eric Black’s kaleidoscopically beautiful documentary follows the daily and ceremonial lives of six articulate young Maya as they struggle to maintain their way of life.
9:00 PM Short Program 94 min
“Barefoot”
(Drama) CDN, Directed by Danis Goulet, 2012, 11:00 min
In a tight-knit Cree community in northern Saskatchewan, sixteen-year-old Alyssa’s plans to become a mom begin to unravel.
“Arrivals and Departures”
(Drama) CDN, Directed by Wanda Nanibush, 2012, 10 min 14A
The Director revisits her past through the metaphor of flight.
“Sight”
(Experimental) CDN, Directed by Thirza Cuthand, 2012, 3:33 min
Super 8 footage layered with Sharpie marked lines and circles obscuring the image illustrates the story of the filmmaker’s experience with temporary episodes of migraine related blindness and her cousin’s self-induced blindness later in life. Paralleling the experience of Blindness with Mental Illness, Cuthand deftly elucidates that any of us could lose any of our abilities at any time.
“NiiPii”
(Water) (Experimental) CDN, Directed by Jules Koostachin, 2012, 6:20 min
A Cree woman in distress is lost in a dream state and forced to face her worst fears.
“Tehokkenhén:tons”
(Close to Death) CDN, Directed by Kaherawaks Thompson & Brandi Boulet, 2012, 17:24 min
The failed suicide attempt of a lonely, disconnected poet is not what it seems when he finds new life through his encounters with Annenake, a cryptic young Kanien’kehá:ka nurse assigned to his suicide watch.
“Repercussions”
(Animation) Cdn, Directed by Terril Calder, 2013, 3:35 min
Vibrations still resonate from the lands past. If you paid full attention you can hear the history underfoot. Toronto has always been a gathering place for the interchange of knowledge, experience and goods. It has a rich history of those traditions and remains to be rich because of those traditions. Repercussions is a portal that examines the link Aboriginal people have to the lands history and resonates into a future that is strengthened by this acknowledgement.
“The Gift”
(Animation) CDN, Directed by Terril Calder, 2011, 2 min
The “Gift” is an exploration of betrayal and deception wrapped in a cozy blanket infested with the small pox disease.
“Cyber Bullying”
(Doc) CDN, Directed by Alexandra Lazarowich, 2012, 23 min
A look at cyber violence from an Aboriginal perspective.
“Derby Kings”
(Drama), USA, Directed by Valerie Bischoff, 2012, 12 min
Feuding brothers Ace and Jim collide at a local demolition derby.
“The Cause –Hope”
(Music video) CDN, Directed by Dallas Arcand, 2013, 4 min
A music video, tied to the Idle No More Movement.
Saturday
12:00 Noon “Smokin’ Fish”
(Doc) USA, Directed by Luke Griswold-Tergis and Cory Mann, 2011, 82 min
Smokin’ Fish, tells the story of one man’s attempts to navigate the messy zone of collision between the modern world and an ancient culture.
2:00 PM “Gently Whispering The Circle Back”
(Doc) CDN, Directed by Beth Wishart Mackenzie for Blue Quills First Nations College, 2013, 49:13 min (free screening)
Gently Whispering the Circle Back explores the journey of healing in a people wounded by the Canadian Indian Residential School system. With dignity and deep sincerity, Survivors and the Children of Survivors share their personal stories with us. We become part of a ‘healing circle’ as participants speak of their recovery of tradition, language, ceremony, and personal dignity. Their stories move us to look inward at our own participation in the ongoing pain of the Indigenous peoples of Canada and they inspire us to join the circle of healing for the benefit of all. Gently Whispering the Circle Back is a celebration of Indigenous spirituality and practice and its power to transform the lives of individuals and communities.
5:00 PM “Yuban”
(The Living Earth) (Doc) MX, Directed by Director Ya’asib Vazquez, Spanish with English subtitles, 2012, 30 min (PG)
A view of the transformation of a Zapotec community, showing nostalgia for a life principle that is dying out, the efforts of the inhabitants to keep their culture alive.
“Always Becoming”
(Doc) USA, Directed by Nora Naranjo-Morse, Spanish with English Subtitles 2012, 52:58 min
Always Becoming looks at the construction of five organic, ephemeral sculptures built on the Smithsonian Mall in the year 2007. The sculptures of Always Becoming are a part of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. and are situated on one of the busiest streets in the city. The film focuses on the building of these unique sculptures meant to melt back into the earth. Artist, Nora Naranjo Morse uses the Always Becoming film to articulate issues of culture, community, family and environment. The act of creating these monumental sculptures inspired by indigenous architecture and thought speaks to the undeniable cultural influences still present in contemporary Aboriginal life.
7:00 PM “Granito”
(How to Nail a Dictator) (Doc) USA, Directed by Peter Kinroy, Pamela Yates, English and Spanish with subtitles, 2011, 104 min
Granito goes behind the scenes of Yates’s 1983 documentary When the Mountains Tremble to show how it became a powerful piece of evidence in human rights activists’ attempts to bring the perpetrators of the Guatemalan genocide to justice.
9:00 PM “Beauty”
(Drama) AR, Directed by Daniela Seggiaro, Spanish and Wichi with subtitles, 2012, 83 min
Beauty is a haunting allegory about a teenage Wichí maid in a small Argentine village who is cajoled into betraying her beliefs.