Films by Indigenous artists tell Indigenous stories
Indigenous films telling Indigenous stories by Indigenous artists; that was the focus of the Indigenous Film Festival in Forest at the Kineto Theatre.
And the highlight was school children learning more about film but also about Indigenous people and their culture.
The film festival kicked off on Friday with the showing of Coming Together, a music video featuring local elementary students, said Ruth Illman, one of the Indigenous Film Festival’s organizers.
Illman said an Ojibwa song written by Candace Scott Moore was taught to students in Grade 4 to 7 from three area schools, Hillside School, Kinwood Central School and St. John Fisher Catholic School. The song was performed while the students did a round dance, all captured by local filmmaker Leigh George. She also showed the students the process of filmmaking.
Several visits were made to the schools while the students learned the dance. Then all the three schools gathered to film the final performance.
“The students were over the moon, said Illman, when they watched the film at a special showing was Friday morning at the Kineto Theatre. A second showing was held in the evening, with students bring their parents and family.
“It was a really good turnout,” said Ilman, who is a member of the Kiwanis Club, which owns the Kineto Theatre. It is definitely the highlight of this year’s Indigenous film festival, she said.
Under the theme of Learning and Healing, this year’s festival included the screening of Indigenous films, as well as workshops, music and Indigenous food.
“These are Indigenous films telling Indigenous stories by Indigenous artists,” said artist Scott-Moore. She said the goal is to share who we are as Indigenous people and spread that understanding.
Scott-Moore is a member of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation and is connected within the arts community having worked as a floor director at the Junos with her producer and project management roles contributing to many successful events. She is a member of Wiiwkedong Arts Collective.
Also included in the event was a performance of Brothers Wilde, a musical group from Kettle and Stony Point, as well as Indigenous food made by the Montague family.
Two workshops were conducted Saturday at the theatre, including one led by Carl Wilde, who has been collecting arrowheads and other items made from flint. He has been collecting these many items throughout the local area since he was a boy. Sylvia Mandoka also conducted a workshop on land-based salves.
, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Independent
