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The 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival (October 1-11) will present six British Columbia premieres of documentaries and animated works from the National Film Board of Canada.
The festival features a strong selection of work by Indigenous creators, with short film Mary Two-Ax Earley: I Am Indian Again by Courtney Montour, Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics by Terril Calder, as well as two new works from Labrador. of the NFB. Documentary project: Evan’s Drum by Ossie Michelin and Nalujuk Night by Jennie Williams.
There is also the award-winning NFB animation, co-produced by the NFB, with Bad Seeds (Weeds) (L’Unité Centrale / ONF) by Claude Cloutier and Flowing Home (song Nhu môt dòng) by Sandra Desmazières ( Les Films de l’Arlequin / ONF).
Mary Two-Ax Earley: I Am Indian Again by Courtney Montour (34 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/mary-two-axe-earley-i-am-indian-again
Mary Two-Ax Earley: I Am Indian Again tells the landmark story of Mary Two-Ax Earley, who fought for more than two decades to fight sex discrimination against First Nations women enshrined in the Indian Act. Indians of Canada, and has become a key figure in the rights movement. Using stock footage and never-before-seen audio recordings, Mohawk filmmaker Courtney Montour engages in a deeply personal conversation with the late Mohawk, who challenged sexist and genocidal government policies that have robbed women and First Nations children of their Indian status when they married non-Indian men.
Montour chats with late Cree activist Nellie Carlson, Mary’s longtime friend and co-founder of Indian Rights for Indian Women, and meets Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse of Edmonton and her daughter in Mary’s kitchen in Kahnawà : ke to honor the legacy of a woman who galvanized a national network of allies to help restore Indian status to thousands of First Nations women and children.
Award: Best Director, Weengushk International Film Festival 2021
Labrador Doc Project
The Labrador Documentary Project supports Indigenous storytelling by working with Labrador Inuit filmmakers for the first time to create and distribute Inuit stories from an Inuit perspective. Two titles were selected at VIFF:
Night of Nalujuk by Jennie Williams (13 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/nalujuk-night
Inuk filmmaker Jennie Williams immerses audiences directly into the action in this chilling black and white short documentary about a winter night like no other. Every January 6, from the dark night of Nunatsiavut, the Nalujuit appear on the sea ice. They walk on two legs, but their faces are animal, skeletal and otherworldly as they approach their destination: the Inuit community of Nain.
Evan’s Drum by Ossie Michelin (14 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/evans-drum
Freelance Inuit journalist from Montreal-based North West River, Labrador, Ossie Michelin follows a young boy and his mother, who share a passion for Inuit drum dancing in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. After generations of silence, the traditional Inuit drum beat has returned to Labrador, and seven-year-old Evan is one of the new generation who will keep his heartbeat strong.
Animated shorts
Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics by Terril Calder (19:22)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/meneath
Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics delves deep into the innate contrast between the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Sacred Teachings, embodied in the life of a precocious Métis baby. Convinced that she is defiled and destined for Hell, Baby Girl receives teachings that fill her with strength and pride, and affirm a path to healing.
Born in Fort Frances, Ontario, and now based in Toronto, Meneath (“island” in Anishinaabemowin) by Métis artist Terril Calder is a darkly beautiful stop-motion tour de force, unearthing a haunting and familiar world which sheds light on the prejudices of colonial systems. The film arrives at VIFF after its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, as part of a tour of Canadian and international festivals.
Bad Seeds by Claude Cloutier (6 min 22 s)
Co-produced by L’Unité centrale and the ONF
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/bad-seeds
Winner of the Genie award for best animation for Sleeping Betty (2007) and director of the famous Carface (2015), seasoned animator Claude Cloutier takes us into a strange world populated by carnivorous plants that can change shape like a chameleon changes color. . Bad Seeds skillfully combines growth and rivalry with evolution and competition, creating an increasingly shocking duel, peppered with allusions to the western, the cold war, board games and more.
Prizes: Audience Award of the International Competition, 2021 Sommets du cinema d ‘animation, Montreal
Flowing Home (Nhu môt dòng sông) by Sandra Desmazières (15 min)
Co-produced by Les Films de l’Arlequin and the NFB
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/flowing-home-nhu-mot-dong-song
Child of a Vietnamese mother and a French father, Sandra Desmazières directed an award-winning animated short about two sisters separated by war for almost 20 years. The letters they exchange are their only way to connect as Thao and Sao Maï write about their daily life, their memories, the war and its ghosts.
Awards: Best Animation, 2021 LA Shorts International Film Festival
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