Skip to main content
#Skoden film image; close on hand holding a tiny photo of a boy

#Skoden

This event has passed

Pernell Bad Arm was a man, not a meme. That’s the lesson Damien Eagle Bear would like us to take away from this compassionate and revealing film about the Kainai man he knew from a homeless shelter in Lethbridge. In the meme that took hold on social media a decade ago, Pernell was flushed and apparently ready to fight, probably the (unknown) guy who took the picture — it was an image that played to certain stereotypes of Indigeneity, brought home by the aggressive caption, #skoden (“Let’s go, then”). Eagle Bear interviews friends, family and case workers who knew Pernell to be anything but a trouble maker; he emerges as a decent man who struggled to transcend his rough upbringing. The challenges were very real and of course they’re far from unique, but there’s something heartening about this act of reclamation all the same.

 

Jun 20: Q&A with director Damien Eagle Bear

 

A thoughtful engaging film, #skoden is well worth seeing.

Mark Glassman, POV magazine

Director

Damien Eagle Bear

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2025

Language

English

Awards

Canadian Filmmaker Award, Hot Docs; Best BC Director, DOXA

19+
75 min

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Executive Producer

Priyanka Desai

Producer

Damien Eagle Bear

Screenwriter

Damien Eagle Bear

Cinematography

Tamarra Canu

Editor

Billy Calling First, Jasleen Kaur, Kane Stewart

Original Music

Melody McKiver

Also Playing

Frankenstein

Dir. Guillermo del Toro
149 min

Frankenstein and Guillermo del Toro might have been made for each other. The movie does not disappoint, a ripping yarn of grand adventure, spectacle, hubris, passion and XXL body parts, a tale of the fantastic that rings the imagination. Screening in 35mm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Predators

Dir. David Osit
96 min

"Punk'd for pedophiles." That's what Jimmy Kimmel called Chris Hansen's true crime/reality TV show, To Catch a Predator (2004-07). Two decades on, David Osit examines why the show made such an impact, for good or ill, and sits down with Hansen himself.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Checkpoint Zoo

Dir. Joshua Zeman
107 min

The amazing true story of the rescue of thousands of animals trapped on the frontline at an Ecopark when Russia invades Ukraine in 2022.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Outcasts

Dir. Robert Wynne-Simmons
95 min

One of earliest examples of "folk horror", The Outcasts (1982) draws on Irish mythology and folktales to eerie effect. Simple Maura is rumoured to have spent the night with the mythical fiddler Scarf Michael, with dire consequences for all... Screening followed by a panel discussion on Irish horror.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema