ABOUT FPFS

First Peoples, First Screens (FPFS) showcases contemporary Indigenous political filmmaking* from across Canada, including documentary, animation, experimental and genre fiction of varying lengths. We are thrilled to circulate four separate clusters of thematically grouped works throughout the Canadian part of the Cinema Politica network, and to provide a platform to discuss Indigenous art, culture, politics, history and struggle at each screening location.

FPFS is curated by Indigenous and non-Indigenous programmers who selected 20+ works from over 150 submissions. We are grateful to our cultural advisors—Tracey Deer, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Alanis Obomsawin—who oversaw the process of selection and who continue to inspire us with their own artistic works. We are also thankful to Karrmen Crey, who penned the accompanying introductory essay for this program. You can read that text below or click here to download the PDF version. To peruse our beautifully-designed FPFS flyer, you can download the PDF here.

_{* With the exception of Nutak—Memories of a Resettlement, which was commissioned by an Indigenous community}

FPFS FILMS

The thematic clusters:

FILMS DETAILS: 

A RED GIRL’S REASONING
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers / 2012 / English / 10’
A no-holds-barred, neo-noir action/thriller wherein an ass-kicking female vigilante seeks
revenge in this social commentary on violence against Indigenous women.
  

BALMORAL HOTEL
Wayne Wapeemukwa / 2013 / 10’
A dance through Vancouver's Downtown Eastside serves as a haunting metaphor for the life of a First Nations sex worker in this powerful short documentary.
 

BLOCUS 138: INNU RESISTANCE
Réal Junior Leblanc / 2012/ French, s.t. English / 7’
This documentary shows the events of March 9th, 2012, during the road block of the 138, and describes, with exactitude, the action and emotion of the moment.
 

THE DANCING COP
Kelvin Redvers / 2012 / English / 7’
A story of a misunderstanding between a police officer and a young native man, with a bit of song and dance mixed in. 
 

GHETTO TRAPPED YOUTH
Shane Kelsey, Wapikoni Mobile Team / English / 2013 / 5’
The duo of Kelsey and Cory Shanke Golder presents a creation that reflects the reality of urban Aboriginal youth.
 

INUIT CREE RECONCILIATION
Zacharias Kunuk, Neil Diamond / 2013 / Inuktitut,Cree, s.t. English / 47’
Zacharias Kunuk and Neil Diamond team up to research the events and historical impacts
of an 18th century war between Inuit and Cree in Northern Québec.
 

KAHA:WI: THE CYCLE OF LIFE
Shane Belcourt / 2014 / English / 45’
KAHA:WI is a performance film that perpetuates Iroquoian cultural knowledge, traditional
æsthetics and expression in a contemporary form.
 

KOSKI KIWETAN (RETOURNER D’OÙ L’ON VIENT)
Lorraine Echaquan, Annie Dubé / 2011 / French, s.t. English / 7’
A parallel is made between a sinuous road dotted with obstacles, the heavy atmosphere
in the community of Manawan and the idea of coming home.

MOBILIZE
Caroline Monnet / 2015 / 3’
A journey by canoe into the city creates a dynamic connection between natural and urban
spaces and celebrates the fierce resourcefulness of Indigenous people.

NANAPUSH ET LA TORTUE
Melissa Mollen Dupuis / 2013 / French, s.t. English / 4’
“The Earth does not belong to mankind,it is man who belongs to the Earth. We know: All things are connected. Everything that happens to the Earth befalls the son of the Earth.”
- SQUAMISH CHIEF

NUTAK—MEMORIES OF A RESETTLEMENT
Sarah Sandring / 2014 / Innu aimun, English, s.t. French, English / 42’
In a 1948 clandestine operation, 100 Mushuau Innu—an indigenous hunting people of Northern Labrador, Canada—were ordered into the cargo hold of a ship and transported far beyond their lands. After decades of settlement and silence, Innu elders wanted to revisit Nutak and tell their memories. This film follows their call.

ONICKAKW! (WAKE UP!)
Sipi Flamand / 2014 / Atikamekw, English / 5’
Through an analysis of the relationship between Indigenous peoples and dominant Canadian settler society, this short is a call for action within Indigenous communities
 

PEHONAN
Coty Savard / 2014 / English / 11’
Documentary short examining the racial disparity of homelessness in Edmonton
Alberta Canada. 
  

THE ROUTES
James McDougall / 2014 / English, s.t. French / 4’
A man travels his community by bike, along the memories and disturbing events that have marked its history. 
 

SAYACHAPIS
Mar Y Sol / 2014 / English, s.t. French / 21’
Named “52” for ten years, Sayachapis now lives alone on Indian Island, a small island off grid off the coast of Vancouver Island. A residential school survivor, he remembers vividly the hard labor, starvation, rape, broken bones and unimaginable horrors from the years gone by. “I am still alive, I am still ok.”

TimeTraveller™
Skawennati / 2013 / English, s.t. French / 10’
TimeTraveller™ is a multi-platform project that features a machinima mini-series. Despite the fact that he possesses an impressive range of traditional skills, Hunter is unable to find his way in an overcrowded, hyperconsumerist, technologized world. He embarks on a vision quest that takes him back in time to historical conflicts involving the First Nations of the Americas.

TRACING BLOOD
Lisa Jodoin / 2013 / English / 5’
The story of one woman’s search for family and the deep-rooted connectedness that she
finds instead.
 

TREADING WATER: PLIGHT OF THE 2011 MANITOBA FIRST NATION
FLOOD EVACUEES
Janelle & Jérémie Wookey / 2014 / English / 48’
TREADING WATER is a deeply intimate look at the unexpected, untold story of the real-life evacuees behind the national headlines of the 2011 Manitoba flood.