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Directors (1975)
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Willie Dunn (6)

Willie Dunn

Willie Dunn

A Mohawk chief once called him Roha’tiio—which means “his voice is beautiful.” Willie Dunn left the Canadian army with a UN Medal and quickly established himself on the sixties folk scene, drawing from his Mi’kmaq/Scottish heritage to craft protest songs about the Indigenous experience. In 1968, as a member of the Indian Film Crew, he directed The Ballad of Crowfoot,the first NFB film to be directed by an Indigenous filmmaker. A powerful homage to the Blackfoot/Siksiká leader featuring Dunn’s own ballad, it’s considered Canada’s first music video. Dunn collaborated on several other IFC titles and recorded many albums. He died in 2013 and is remembered as a trailblazing artist, activist and community leader.

  • The Ballad of Crowfoot
    The Ballad of Crowfoot
    Willie Dunn 1968 10 min
    Paru en 1968 et souvent considéré comme le premier vidéoclip créé au Canada, The Ballad of Crowfoot a été réalisé par Willie Dunn, un chanteur folk et militant d’origine mi’kmaq-écossaise membre de la première équipe de production entièrement autochtone de l’ONF, la mémorable Indian Film Crew. Le film jette un regard acéré sur les trahisons coloniales, qu’illustrent un montage saisissant d’images d’archives et une ballade composée par le cinéaste lui-même sur le légendaire chef siksika (pied-noir) qui, au 19e siècle, a négocié le Traité no 7 au nom de la Confédération des Pieds-Noirs. Cette production qui marque les débuts de l’Indian Film Crew est aussi la première à avoir été réalisée par des Autochtones à l’ONF.
  • The Ballad of Crowfoot
    The Ballad of Crowfoot
    Willie Dunn 1968 10 min
    Released in 1968 and often referred to as Canada’s first music video, The Ballad of Crowfoot was directed by Willie Dunn, a Mi’kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist who was part of the historic Indian Film Crew, the first all-Indigenous production unit at the NFB. The film is a powerful look at colonial betrayals, told through a striking montage of archival images and a ballad composed by Dunn himself about the legendary 19th-century Siksika (Blackfoot) chief who negotiated Treaty 7 on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The IFC’s inaugural release, Crowfoot was the first Indigenous-directed film to be made at the NFB.
  • La face cachée des transactions
    La face cachée des transactions
    Martin Defalco  &  Willie Dunn 1972 42 min
    Le 300e anniversaire de la Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson, en 1970, n'a pas été une occasion de réjouissance pour tous. Narré par George Manuel, alors président de la Fraternité des Indiens du Canada, ce film majeur fournit des perspectives autochtones sur la compagnie, dont l'empire commercial de la fourrure a favorisé la colonisation de vastes étendues de terres dans le centre, l'ouest et le nord du Canada. Le contraste entre les célébrations officielles, avec la reine Elizabeth II parmi les invités, et ce que les Autochtones ont à dire sur la façon dont La Baie les traite, est frappant. Sorti en 1972, le film est coréalisé par Martin Defalco et Willie Dunn, membres de l’Indian Film Crew, une équipe de production entièrement autochtone créée à l'ONF en 1968.
  • The Other Side of the Ledger: An Indian View of the Hudson's Bay Company
    The Other Side of the Ledger: An Indian View of the Hudson's Bay Company
    Martin Defalco  &  Willie Dunn 1972 42 min
    The Hudson’s Bay Company’s 300th-anniversary celebration in 1970 was no occasion for joy among the people whose lives were tied to the trading stores. Narrated by George Manuel, then president of the National Indian Brotherhood, this landmark film presents Indigenous perspectives on the company whose fur-trading empire drove colonization across vast tracts of land in central, western and northern Canada. There is a sharp contrast between the official celebrations, with Queen Elizabeth II among the guests, and what Indigenous people have to say about their lot in the Company’s operations. Released in 1972, the film was co-directed by Martin Defalco and Willie Dunn—a member of the historic Indian Film Crew, an all-Indigenous production unit established at the NFB in 1968.
  • Ces gens sont mon peuple
    Ces gens sont mon peuple
    Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell ,  Willie Dunn , … 1969 13 min
    C'est le premier film réalisé par l'Indian Film Crew, dans le cadre du programme Challenge for Change de l'ONF. Il a été tourné à Akwesasne (réserve de St. Regis). Deux porte-parole expliquent les aspects historiques et autres de la religion, de la culture et du gouvernement de la maison-longue, qui sont imbriqués. Ils réfléchissent sur l'impact de l'arrivée des colons sur le mode de vie autochtone et sur ce que l'avenir peut apporter.
  • These Are My People...
    These Are My People...
    Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell ,  Willie Dunn , … 1969 13 min
    Released in 1969, These Are My People… was the first NFB film made entirely by an Indigenous crew. It was co-directed by Roy Daniels, Willie Dunn, Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell and Barbara Wilson—members of the Indian Film Crew (IFC), an all-Indigenous unit established in 1968 as part of Challenge for Change, a broader organizational initiative to use media to effect social change. One of the first Canadian documentaries to foreground an Indigenous perspective on the history of Indigenous–settler relations, it features Standing Arrow and Tom Porter, from the Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) community of Akwesasne, who discuss longhouse religion, culture, government and the impacts of settler arrival on their way of life.

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