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Join us for our opening night, featuring guest artist performances, tasty food onsite for purchase, bar service, and an outdoor film screening of "We Are Still Here".
Don't forget to come hungry and chow down on some delicious Mexican Tacos curtesy of @mexico_guadalajara (IG Account)
They'll be setup onsite from 6:30pm to 9:00pm - Cash or Card
Moontee Sinquah and his two sons, Sampson Sixkiller Sinquah and Scott Sixkiller Sinquah are proud members of the Hopi, Tewa, and Choctaw nations from the Hopi villages located in Northern Arizona. The Sinquah trio is deeply rooted in their Hopi culture and traditions. They understand that music, dance, and storytelling are powerful tools and can be transformative when allowed the gift to develop. Their goal is to connect with youth and ignite inspiration through their performances.
On top of humbly winning the World Champion titles from the World Championship Hoop Dance contest held annually at the Internationally renowned, Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona; the Sinquah’s all specialize in powwow dances. Moontee is a champion Grass dancer, Sampson a champion Prairie Chicken dancer, and Scott a champion Fancy War dancer, in the USA and Canada.
Gabrielle is from Fishing Lake Metis Settlement in Alberta and Josh is from Wikwemikong Unceded Territory. We are a married couple who share songs of pride, healing and resurgence of our identities. We infuse acoustic guitar, hand drum, Anishinaabemowin and lyrics about healing and identity. We have been performing on Algonquin Anishinaabeg aki for the past 8 years at community gatherings, fundraisers and local festivals. We most recently performed at the NAC Moshkamo Indigenous Arts Festival and Asinabka Film and Media Arts Festival in 2019. Niishzhoowe means "two voices" in Anishnaabemowin.
Directors
Beck Cole
Samuel Nuggin-Paynter
Danielle MacLean
Dena Curtis
Tim Worrall
Richard Curtis
Miki Magasiva
Mario Gaoa
Chantelle Burgoyne Tiraroa Reweti
Tracey Rigney
Renae Maihi
In order to move forward, we must first look back
We Are Still Here is a unique Indigenous film that interweaves eight powerful tales to tell a sweeping story of hope and survival.
Through the eyes of eight protagonists, We Are Still Here traverses 1000 years from past, present, and future to explore stories of kinship, loss, grief, and resilience. But ultimately, it shows the strength of love and hope to overcome shared traumas that Indigenous people from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific have continued to face.
From the beginning of time, in a Utopian world, a traditional fisherwoman and her Daughter are fishing when they pull up an ominous ship, foreshadowing stormy seas and tragedy to follow. Forward to 1862, a British Settler threatens an Aboriginal man to lead him to safety, whilst in New Zealand, tribes cocooned deep in the forest are preparing for a terrifying future.
In 1915, men from the Pacific were sent to support the British Colony in World War One fighting for a land that isn't theirs, with uncertainty of ever seeing home again. Flashing forward into a dystopian future, a young child must navigate her way through a dangerous underground marketplace to save her grandfather and survive.
We Are Still Here showcases the expansive landscapes of the Central Australian Desert to the lush green rainforests of New Zealand.
In spite of colonialism, racism, imperialism and the attempted erasure of Indigenous lives, WE ARE STILL HERE.
Beck Cole is an Australian filmmaker of the Warumungu and Luritja nations. Her work spans many genres including drama, documentary, comedy, animation, children’s television. Her debut feature film Here I Am, was released in 2011 and premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival. She was direct some of Australia's most popular and award-winning television series from Black Comedy to Wentworth. Her work has screened at film festivals around the world including Sundance, Montreal, Telluride, New York, Melbourne, Sydney and beyond.
Tracey Rigney is a Wotjobaluk and Ngarrindjeri woman. She is a storyteller: a published playwright and filmmaker. Her directing credits include Steven Oliver’s web series, A Chance Affair, short films Man Real (selected for the Sydney Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival) and Abalone (Best Short Drama, ImagiNATIVE 2013) . More recently her short film Elders (directed by Tony Briggs) premiered at Berlin International Film Festival in 2020.
Danielle Maclean is an experienced writer, producer, director. She wrote and directed Bonita Mabo - For Who I Am. Her short film My Colour Your Kind was nominated for AFI and Film Critics awards. Her work has screened nationally at Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival & Brisbane International Film Festival; Internationally at Telluride Film Festival, Valladolid International Film Festival and Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen.
Dena Curtis is a writer, director, producer. Dena has also worked at National Indigenous Television, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Dena’s directing credits include award- winning short films Hush, Jacob and Nan and a Whole Lot of Trouble. Her work has screened at ImagineNative, Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, Cretiel Film Des Femmes Festival. National film festivals include Sydney Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and CinefestOZ.
Writer and Director Tim Worrall is an alum of The Elam Art School. He was a script advisor on NIki Caro’s Whale Rider and other writing and directing credits include Tits On a Bull, Only in Aotearoa, and This is Piki.
Richard Curtis (Te Arawa) is a filmmaker with over 30 years experience in the screen industry primarily as a camera op and cinematographer. Ahi Kaa written and directed by Richard won the Best Short Film award at the Hawaii International Film Festival 2015. He is the creator and director of the popular series Hunting Aotearoa now in its fifteenth season. He is currently DOP on Kai Safari & Hunting Aotearoa.
Renae Maihi is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter. Her short films include Mannahatta and Ka Puta Ko Au, and her first feature film, Waru, was released in 2017. She is Māori of Ngāpuhi and Te Arawa descent. Her work has been shown at Berlin International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and the ImagiNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto among others.
Writer and Director Miki Magasiva is an alum of Film and Television school in Wellington. He has a host of commercial credits to his name as well as short films and television including The Panthers, Brother, Rites of Courage.
A member of the well-known comedy group The Naked Samoans, Mario Gaoa is also a well-known actor with credits including What We Do In The Shadows, The Almighty Johnsons, Bro’Town (for which he was also a writer), Samoan Wedding, and Diplomatic Immunity. In addition to directing his share of We Are Still Here he also wrote the script. Other directing credits include Teine Sa, Game of Bros, and radiradirah.
Chantelle Burgoyne has worked in film as a director, writer, editor, and producer. Internationally, she has produced Jason Derulo & Jawsh 685’s music video Savage Love. Other credits include Tatau and Sanctuary on which she produced, directed, wrote, and edited