Five Indigenous Short Films - Adäka Cultural Festival

This screening took place on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 at 12:00 pmKwanlin Dün Cultural Centre

Admission free event

Award-winning short dramatic, documentary and experimental films by Indigenous filmmakers from BC, Australia and Finland. Curated by Kerry Barber, Tr’ondek Hwech’in citizen from Dawson City.

Leave It On the Water Dir. Steve Sxwithul'txw, 2018, BC, 13min.

Indigenous youth from the Coast Salish territory on Vancouver Island train to represent their community in the world’s largest outrigger canoe race. Carrying on an old tradition using the canoe racing as a form of healing, they enter the biggest canoe race in the world, taking them from their small community all the way to Hawaii.

Eatnanvulos lottit (Birds in the Earth) Dir. Marja Helander, 2018, Finland/Norway, 11min.

Two sister ballerinas dance through the villages and forests of the Sámi land in this whimsical and disarming commentary on Indigenous sovereignty and land ownership. Winner of Best Short Prize at Tampere Film Festival, 2018.

Undiscovered Country, Dir. Tyson Mowarin, 2018, Austraila, 20min.

Frustrated by the partying ways of his young nephews, an uncle takes the boys on a life-changing journey out of town to reconnect with the land of their ancestors and the country they will take care of in the future.

Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes), Dir. Amanda Strong, 2018, BC, 19min.

Biidaaban, a young, Anishinabe maple harvester, defies the rules of time, space and gender in this compelling and beautiful stop motion short, told through different times and dimensions. Biidaaban carries on the tradition of harvesting maple syrup in present time in urban Ontario with help from her friends, including Sabe, an ancient shapeshifter.

Gobmemainnas (Ghost Story), Dir. Niki Rasmus, 2017, Finland, 7min.

Storyteller Áslat Pieski shares a gripping story from his childhood. As a young, Sami boy, his usual trip home from the store turns into a chase when he realizes he isn't alone.

 

Kerry Barber is part Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation from Dawson City, Yukon Territory. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film, Video + Integrated Media from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Her film My Indian Bum and Dear Hatetts is what she is well known for. Recently, she did a short installation piece for the Dawson City Arts Society Members Show, Spruce Gum.

Dear Hatetts has won 3 awards, the President’s Media Award for Best Live Action, the Saralee James Memorial Award at Emily Carr University and the Jury Prize at the Breakthroughs Film Festival in Toronto. Barber makes documentaries that are serious in nature that end up humourous to lighten the load and to let you, the audience to breathe. She is currently writing a script for her next documentary.