Join us for an intimate dialogue between legendary Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and Michif/Métis Artist Amanda Strong, rising star in film and animation, as they discuss their artistic practices, the importance of intergenerational connection, and story telling. Centered around the screening of their latest works, the conversation between these two powerful cinematic voices will discuss the joys and challenges of making film for youth.
This Talk will feature a sneak peek of Alanis Obomsawin’s latest short film My Friend the Green Horse. Often feeling lost and alone, the young Alanis found solace and companionship in the Animal World. Told with joyfulness and imbued with the spirit of happy childhood memories, My Friend the Green Horse offers rare insight into the early life of one of the world’s great documentary directors through a beautiful blend of live-action footage and stop-motion animation.
Amanda Strong’s animated short Inkwo: For When the Starving Return is the story of Dove, a young, enigmatic, gender-shifting warrior, who discovers the gifts and burdens of their Inkwo (medicine) to defend against an army of hungry, ferocious monsters. Dove’s courage, resilience and alliance with the Earth culminates in a battle against these flesh-consuming creatures, who become stronger with each body and soul they devour.
Presented by
Talks Supported by
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Community Broadcast Partner
Oct 5
2:00 pm
VIFF Centre, Vancity Theatre
Open to youth!
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Guests
Alanis Obomsawin
One of the most acclaimed Indigenous directors in the world, Alanis Obomsawin came to cinema from performance and storytelling. Hired by the NFB as a consultant in 1967, she has created an extraordinary body of work—50 films and counting—including landmark documentaries like Incident at Restigouche (1984) and Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993). The Abenaki director has received numerous international honours and her work was showcased in a 2008 retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. “My main interest all my life has been education,” says Obomsawin, “because that’s where you develop yourself, where you learn to hate, or to love.”
Bush Lady is the only recording ever made by Alanis Obomsawin, who began her artistic career as a singer-songwriter in the 1960s. Amidst her burgeoning film career, Bush Lady was born of sessions sponsored by CBC Radio in 1984. Unsatisfied with these recordings, Obomsawin reclaimed the master tapes, remade the album, and issued it on her own private press in 1988. This unique and profound record had been out of print and gaining cult status ever since, until Constellation Records reissued a newly remastered version of the album in 2018.
Amanda Strong
Amanda Strong is a Michif/Métis artist, writer, producer, director, filmmaker and mother. As the owner and executive producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc., her collaborative creations serve to amplify Indigenous storytelling and ideologies. Strong’s work has received Canadian Screen Award and Emmy nominations, and her films—which include Biidaaban (2018) and Four Faces of the Moon (2016) —have been shown worldwide at venues such as TIFF, the Cannes film market, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the American Museum of Natural History.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.
Julie Keeps Quiet
When her coach falls under investigation for inappropriate behaviour, a young tennis ace is thrown into turmoil. Her reluctance to testify about her experience puts her at odds with the club, her parents and her friends.
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.
The Way, My Way
All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.