.
-Evening-
5:45pm
Imagining The Indian (1h 30m)
7:30pm
L'Inhumain (1h 25m)
9:15pm (South Terrace)
Dark Twists: Shorts (94m)
Ben West & Aviva Kempner • 1h 35m • 2022 • USA • English
Imagining The Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting is a comprehensive examination of the movement to eradicate the words, images, and gestures that many Native Americans and their allies find demeaning and offensive. The film takes a deep-dive into the issues through archival footage and interviews with those involved in the fight. The psychological research is clear, the use of Native American mascots is detrimental, not only to Native people, but to marginalized groups everywhere.
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
5:45pm
Imagining The Indian (1h 30m)
Ottawa Art Gallery (3rd Floor), Alma Duncan Salon
Ben West (Co-Director) (Cheyenne) is a freelance writer/producer, filmmaker and a consultant with the Ciesla Foundation. He spent many years in television production at Carsey-Werner Mandabach LLC, and has worked on feature films for companies like Telenova Productions, Mandalay Pictures, and outlets such as the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. He is currently developing content for television and film. In addition to his endeavors in entertainment, he is Cheyenne and an advocate for Native American rights. West was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and is a graduate of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California.
Aviva Kempner (Co-Director) (Jewish American), a Washington, D.C.-based filmmaker, creates successful and critically acclaimed documentaries about under-known Jewish heroes and social justice. In 2019, she premiered her fifth commercially-released film, The Spy Behind Home Plate
.
Jason Brennan • 1h 25m • 2021 • Canada • French
Mathieu is a brilliant neurosurgeon whose perfect life is falling apart.
Impending divorce, job loss, substance abuse, and a mid-life crisis are all factors that can cause him to go off the rails. In addition, the sudden death of his father forces him to return home to Anishinaabe territory, a place he has tried to avoid since his youth.
Nevertheless, Mathieu agrees to go and deposit his father's ashes in the heart of their ancestral territory and wishes to find himself at the same time.
The break away from the city promises to be a nice getaway until Mathieu realizes that he is now the prey of an evil creature known as the Wendigo. Mathieu's pilgrimage quickly becomes an unimaginable nightmare that will change him forever. Like it or not, our vices always catch up with us eventually.
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
7:30pm
l'inhumain (1h 25m)
Ottawa Art Gallery (3rd Floor), Alma Duncan Salon
Jason Brennan is a member of the First Nations community of Kitigan Zibi. Born to an Algonquin father and a Quebecers mother, Jason was fortunate to see the best of both worlds and heritages. His journey into the world of television production began in 2002 holding different production positions in Ottawa and Montreal. In 2004, he began directing and writing for Hockey Goals, a series featured on the Aboriginal People Television Network.
In 2006, Jason founded Nish Media, a production company that would focus on showing positive stories and positive programming about Indigenous Peoples. In the first few years, Nish Media would produce such television series as La piqure, The Journey, Pursuing the flame and Mouki for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. In addition, Nish Media has collaborated with reputable Canadian broadcasters such as CBC, TV5, RDI, Historia, Canal D.
.
Elisabeth Rasmussen (Sámi) • 7m • 2023 • Norway • Norwegian
Two girlfriends are visiting Berlin for a weekend trip. There, they find an including club culture and people wildly different from themselves. Lost in the DJ's heavy rhythms, they are transported back to Sápmi. To scenic surroundings from Northern Norway, the warmth of the midnight sun and the diffuse sound of joik. Throughout the evening, the two girlfriends discover the joy of being part of a community through meetings with people they would otherwise never have met. And dare to be themselves full and completely.
Dir. Tank Standing Buffalo / Prod. Xstine Cook • 7m • 2022 • Canada • Eng.
Tank the eldest of eight siblings, grapples with the memory of the moment his family was torn apart. Foraging for survival alone in a forest, the children fear a dangerous force. But what lurks in the darkness is true evil. Narrated by Corey Feldman.
Andrew Genaille (Sto:lo/Ojibway) • 10m • 2022 • Canada • Eng.
Two scientists bring a Head back to life after a Car accident
Ryan H. Craig (Yakama) & Michael T. Sekaquaptewa • 20m • 2022 • USA • Eng.
Sonny (Anthony Hernandez) is a middle aged karate sensei struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle. His two star pupils, Malaki and Monty have been learning from him since they were 8 years old. The now teenage boys are loyal to Sonny but are beginning to wonder if their time under his direction is needed anymore. When Sonny finds himself in a love triangle with someone close to his students, conflict ensues and everyone's lives are forever changed.
Réal Junior Leblanc (Innu) • 4m • 2022 • Quebec • Innu-Aimun, French
Taking the pandemic as a starting point, Manitushiss (Virus) weaves a scathing critique of our relationship with Mother Earth, invoking the right to defend ourselves against a humanity that has become destructive and toxic. The compelling rhythmic editing amplifies the gravity of a narrative that speaks to our judgment and solidarity, something we can no longer ignore
Roberto Urzua • 28m • 2022 • Chile • No Dialogue
MAPU KUTRAN is a word, that comes from mapuche language, one of Chile first nations people. Is a disease without known origin, that attacks when the human damages nature. This disease starts when the person disrespects the environment: cultural spaces like "menoko" (source of water), "lawen" (natural herbs medicine), or high newen (power, strength). The documentary explores the human contradictions
Eric Plamondon • 18m • 2021 • Canada • Eng.
Riverside Queerness reveals hard moments in the Prairies; shadowed queer history. Three storytellers navigate muddy waters that is Manitoba's subconsciousness; where truth is blurred by the power of the currents.