Skip to main content
Return to Ombabika film image

Return to Ombabika

Two spirit Oji-Cree elder, activist and artist Ma-Nee Chacaby journeys home to Ombabika, Ontario. She reflects on the land, her personal healing and the impacts of colonization.

 

Supported by

Community Partner

Directors
Cast

Denise Bottle, Bryon Brisard, Yvette Metansinine

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2022

Language

In Anishinaabemowin and English with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
22 min

Credits

Producer

Cricket Cave

Cinematography

Shayne Ehman

Editor

Shayne Ehman, Zoe Gordon

Directors

Ma-Nee Chacaby headshot

Ma-Nee Chacaby

Ma-Nee Chacaby is an Ojibwe-Cree writer and activist from Canada. She is most noted for her award winning memoir, ‘A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder’, which was published in 2016. Born and raised in the Northern Ontario indigenous community of Ombabika, Chacaby escaped the Indian residential school system only because she was away hunting and trapping with her stepfather when government agents arrived in the community during the Sixties Scoop. She later lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba and currently resides in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Zoe Gordon headshot

Zoe Gordon

Zoe Gordon is a sound artist and filmmaker living in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Zoe has worked on many productions as a sound designer and recordist with directors including Shelly Niro and Michelle Derosier. Zoe did sound design for Michelle Derosiers The Grandfather Drum which premiered at Sundance Festival in 2016.

Filmography: III, Actually (2019); Better (2023)

Shayne Ehman headshot

Shayne Ehman

Shayne Ehman is an artist, animator and filmmaker living in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. His feature length animation Asphalt Watches (co-created with Seth Scriver) won ‘Best First Canadian Feature Film’ at TIFF in 2013. He has worked with award winning filmmaker Michelle Derosier on many films including Audrey’s Story, Choose Life, CBC production – Spirit to Soar and most recently the short animation A Boy and His Loss which will be featured at imagineNATIVE Festival 2023 in Toronto.

VIFF Short Forum

See more shorts in this series

1: Call your mother
Le Tour De Canada film image; double exposure of man's face over two cyclists

1: Call your mother

Dir. Various
108 min

Shorts from: Canada, China, UK.

International Village 7
2: Memory & mediation
One Duck Down film image; double exposure of smoke over a playground

2: Memory & mediation

Dir. Various
108

Shorts from: Canada, France, Lebanon, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Syria, USA.

International Village 7
3: The peripheral core
In My Hand film contact; person holding black wings lying in deep snow

3: The peripheral core

Dir. Various
112 min

Shorts from: Brazil, Canada, Japan, Norway, USA.

International Village 7
4: Um, womanhood
Nine Times Better film image; cartoon pair of legs sticking out from a green sphere

4: Um, womanhood

Dir. Various
108 min

Shorts from: Canada, Columbia, France, Netherlands, Sweden.

International Village 7
5: The absurd & spiritual
Muljil: Diving film image; person riding a moped down a deserted street

5: The absurd & spiritual

Dir. Various
105 min

Shorts from: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal.

International Village 7
6: City slickin’
No Skate! film image; someone holding a sign talking to a person dressed in a karate uniform

6: City slickin’

Dir. Various
113 min

Shorts from: Canada, France, Jordan, Spain, USA.

International Village 7
7: All day I dream about
How to Live Together film image; man with a chameleon on his shoulder and a hand patting his head

7: All day I dream about

Dir. Various
106 min

Shorts from: Canada, India, Spain, Taiwan, USA.

International Village 7
8: Love and despair
Arguments in Favor of Love film image; bedsheet ghosts in a forest on fire

8: Love and despair

Dir. Various
113 min

Shorts from: China, France, Germany, Portugal, USA.

International Village 7
9: The scary one
Jeff film image; crying woman with a golden stars headpiece

9: The scary one

Dir. Various
112 min

Shorts from: Canada, Korea, Romania, USA.

International Village 7
10: The new socialism; ceasefire now!
My Comrade film image; man standing next to another man aiming a bow and arrow in a forest

10: The new socialism; ceasefire now!

Dir. Various
114 min

Shorts from: Belgium, Canada, China, India, Myanmar, UK.

International Village 7
Short Fuse
women in a circle around another woman with their hands framing her head

Short Fuse

Dir. Various
75 min

An eye-opening collection of shorts exploring memories, experiences and relationships between friends, family, and across generations. From powwows in North America, to the rivers of Ethiopia and beyond, these shorts offer memorable stories on screen.

International Village 7