Strong Convictions - Dramatic Shorts (1h 33m)
E Mālama Pono, Willy Boy
Scott W. Kekama Amona (Kanaka Maoli) • 18m • 2022 • USA • English, Hawaiian
When a Native Hawaiian Police Officer is called in on his day off to evict the protesting Native Hawaiian residents of a homeless settlement deemed “illegal” by the State of Hawaii, he is forced to choose between supporting his family, upholding the law, and doing what is morally right . . . or PONO.
Ghosts
Jeffrey Palmer (Kiowa) • 17m • 2022 • USA • English
"Ghosts" tells the story of three Kiowa boys' daring escape from a government boarding school in Anadarko, Oklahoma in 1891, to attend a ghost dance ceremony at a distant Kiowa encampment. After being whipped for insubordination and feeling defeated, CHARLES, a rebellious teenager, plans to escape with an unlikely group of partners, the spiritual ZEPH, who has visions of his grandfather and an upcoming ghost dance, which is sweeping across Indian Territory promising the resurrection of their ancestors, and JUDAH, a trickster, who seizes the opportunity to join them and help them flee. “Ghosts” is an oral history of tribal alliance, resistance, and survival from the degradation of forced assimilation.
Rose
Roxann Whitebean (Mohawk) • 25m • 2022 • Canada • Eng.
Rose is the story of a sixteen-year-old pregnant Indigenous girl, pulled from her community and placed in a church to be overseen in her last weeks of pregnancy. When she delivers her child, it will be taken from her and put into a Canadian home by decree of an Indian Agent, Angus O’Byrne. Rose harbours a secret, and will not tell anyone the identity of the baby’s father—not even her family. It is later revealed that the father of her child is a young Mohawk man named Michael who wants to keep the child in the community.
Meet The Sky
KJ Edwards (Kanien’kehá:ka) • 14.5 • 2021 • Canada • Eng.
Two sisters travel to a reservation to learn about Kanien'kehá:ka culture. Due to the progression of her illness, Andie intends to live out her days there. Mel, on the other hand, rejects both the truth about Andie’s diagnosis and the importance of bringing ceremony into their lives.
My Roommate Makayla
Jonelle Belcourt (Cree) • 5m • 2021 • Canada • Eng.
A fun girl's night in is turned upside down when a late-night phone call alerts a group of friends that one of their roommates is alone and in danger but how can they help her when they don't know
how to find her?
Conviction
Bruce Thomas Miller (Anishinabe) • 13m • 2022 • Canada • Eng.
After Joseph is released from jail, he faces inner demons that stand in the way of true freedom.
Broken Angel
Jules Arita Koostachin • 1h 29m • 2022 • Canada • English
Angel prepares to leave the shelter for a new life, but soon after, she comes to face her biggest nightmare, Earl. In a deadly confrontation with Earl and with Frankie on his heels, Angel is forced with the decision to flee or fight. Her parents, Frankie and the spirit of Gracie reunite to save Angel from his wrath, and their unconditional love provides her the power and strength to fight back once and for all.
Learn More
Thursday, August 10, 2023
7:30pm
Broken Angel (1.5h)
Ottawa Art Gallery (3rd Floor), Alma Duncan Salon
Director Bio
Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin, born in Moose Factory Ontario, was raised by her Cree speaking grandparents in Moosonee, and also with her mother in Ottawa, a warrior of the Canadian Residential school system. Jules is a band member of Attawapiskat First Nation, the Ancestral lands of the MoshKek AsKi InNiNeWak. In 2010, she completed her masters at Ryerson University in Documentary Media where she was awarded the Award of Distinction for her thesis work, as well as the Graduate Ryerson Gold Medal for highest academic achievement. While in graduate school, she produced her first feature documentary Remembering Inninimowin regarding her journey of remembering InNiNiMoWin (Cree). After graduation, Jules was one of six women selected for the Women in the Directors Chair program at the Banff Center, where she directed a scene from her feature script Broken Angel, a dramatic thriller. Broken Angel was selected by the Toronto International Film Festival Filmmakers Lab in 2018 and the Whistler Screenwriting Lab (aka Praxis) in 2019. Broken Angel commenced production in the fall of 2021, and has now been released into the world. Also, she is in post-production with her first NFB feature film WaaPaKe about intergenerational resilience and hope. She is also in post-production with her next documentary feature “Chubby Cree” with Soapbox Productions. She is going into production with her second Telefilm funded feature “Angela’s Shadow” in the spring of 2023. Jules’ popular television series AskiBOYZ (2016) co-produced with Big Soul Production is available on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in both English and Cree. She was selected for the Directors Program for Women (2021/22) with the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
Love & Decay: Sci-fi Shorts (9:15pm - South Terrace)
Closed System
Bawaadan Collective, Marjan Verstappen • 14m • 2021 • Canada • English
A genetically modified invasive species, bred to eat plastic and spin it into rope, makes a bid for freedom in the last wilderness on earth. A dutiful scientist is sent by a ruthless algorithm to hunt it down and destroy it. As she experiences the forest for the first time in her life, the scientist begins to question everything she has been taught about pollution, conservation, and the mythos of the untouched wilderness
MisTik
Jules Arita Koostachin (Cree) • 25 • 2022 • Canada • Eng.
MisTik follows Cree twins who carry the last of the healthy trees on their backs in hopes of saving the world they once knew.
This Modern Love
Tyrel Lougheed (Sto:Lo)• 22m • 2023 • Canada • Eng.
During a zombie apocalypse, Candace digs up the corpse of her former lover, Sarah, in hopes that she can rehabilitate her when she's reanimated...
Spiritt
Kelly Roulette (Ojibwe) • 11.5m • 2023 • Canada • Eng.
On the way to meeting his Maker, Motorcycle Guy confronts his biggest regret while forcing his gatekeeper to face up to his own.
Home
Barry Bilinksy (Cree, Métis, Ukrainian) • 17m • 2022 • Canada • Cree, English
Disaster strikes Kikino during the annual baseball extravaganza, forcing those that can to bunker down. Local internet celebrity Kit Kat Thompson escaped this place once before, what makes this time any different? Everyone struggles to determine what the future might hold, how to survive, and where exactly is Home.