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Urban Life (12)
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Between Two WorldsKevin Papatie 2009 3 minKevin Papatie turns his identity quest into an experimental film in which nature and the city engage in a visual call and response.
Since 2004, the travelling studios of Wapikoni Mobile have enabled Quebec First Nations youth to express themselves through videos and music. This short film was made with the guidance of these travelling studios and is part of the 2008 Selection - Wapikoni Mobile
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The Fake CalendarMeky Ottawa 2019 1 minA neon glimpse into a personal world within an urban landscape. From FOMO to JOMO, The Fake Calendar is an artist’s expression of how people come up with interesting and creative ways to avoid social functions in favour of their own private space.
Produced as part of the 12th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship. -
Indian Relocation: Elliot LakeD'Arcy Marsh & David Hughes 1967 29 minVocational and academic education programs are introduced as a way to prepare Indigenous people for city life in this short documentary film. As families move out to northern Ontario's Elliot Lake from neighbouring reserves, programs such as these are used to integrate them into society. Through this film, we hear from some of the families who stayed, and some who returned.
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The Longer TrailFergus McDonell 1956 30 minA story about a young Indigenous man from a reserve near Calgary and the problems he faces when he finds himself thrust into the world of the white man. Joe Lonecloud contracts tuberculosis and is taken to the Charles Camsell Indian Hospital in Edmonton. There he learns that he will never be able to return to the vigorous activity of the outdoors. In learning a trade and getting a job he encounters prejudice, which makes his adjustment all the more difficult.
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Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and BackReaghan Tarbell 2008 56 min
Mohawk high steel workers have a special place in North American history. The iconic New York skyline - with its great monuments to modernity - is the fruit of their labour.
While the men were scraping the skies, the women had their feet firmly on the ground - sustaining a vibrant Mohawk community in the heart of Brooklyn.
Little Caughnawaga evokes the neighbourhood's heyday - from the 1920s through to the 60s - and salutes the spirited women who kept the culture alive.
The Brooklyn Mohawks were mostly from Kahnawake, a community long associated with the dangerous world of high steel. In 1907 the small town lost 33 men in the Quebec Bridge disaster, an event that still looms large in collective memory.
Moving back and forth between Brooklyn and Kahnawake, director Reaghan Tarbell crafts an affectionate portrait of Little Caughnawaga ad a heartfelt tribute to the cultural resilience of her people. -
No AddressAlanis Obomsawin 1988 55 minFar from home and cut off from family and friends, Montreal’s Indigenous homeless population is the focus of No Address. Dreams of a better life in the big city can be met with harsh realities, as the individuals in this documentary recount. Often trying to flee circumstances created by colonialism and the effects of assimilation, the First Nations and Inuit people in this work share frank stories about their lives and the paths that took them to the streets of Montreal. Alanis Obomsawin presents an honest, stark portrayal of endemic homelessness while giving voice to those so often overlooked or made invisible on the streets of every city in Canada.
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This Is Who I AmManuel Ibanez 2018 11 minA young First Nations woman struggles with her identity in the big city. After a series of events, she realizes she can still be Anishinaabe, and in fact, it is her responsibility.
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Urban ElderRobert S. Adams 1997 28 minIn the last forty years, Canada has seen a major population shift of Indigenous peoples to the urban centres like Toronto which has become home to the largest urban Indigenous population in the country (an estimated 65,000).
Today's urban Indigenous peoples (both those with a direct connection to land-based reservation life, and those who have always lived in cities) are developing an urban Indigenous culture. They are discovering ways to integrate important expressions of traditional culture into city life, including the tradition of the Elder: a person of great wisdom who dispenses advice, settles disputes, and acts as a model and arbitrator of acceptable behaviour.
Meet Vern Harper, Urban Elder, who walks the "Red Road" in a fast-paced, urban landscape. The camera follows Vern as he leads a sweat lodge purification ceremony, watches his 11-year-old daughter Cody at a classical ballet rehearsal, conducts a private healing ceremony, participates in a political march of 150,000 people, and counsels Indigenous prisoners at Warkworth Federal Prison.
In his own voice, Vern Harper tells the Urban Elder story of how he reaches into the past for his people's traditions, blending those old ways into the present so that the future can be a time of personal growth and spiritual strength. -
Full CircleKristi Lane Sinclair 2018 8 minSince its inception in 1976, Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre has been a place in which the urban Indigenous community could feel safe, learn and grow. Council Fire uses cultural teachings and creates space to restore Indigenous identity, especially for its youth. At the core of Council Fire’s history and teachings is the drum, which they refer to as “our mother.” In Full Circle, we get to know the members of the Toronto Council Fire Youth Program as they embark on new journeys. We meet a drum group that lays down tracks at a professional recording studio and a group of young dancers who showcase their moves at a dance studio.
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Some StoriesClayton Windatt 2018 8 minSome Stories follows a group of Indigenous youth from the Nipissing (Nbisiing) region who come together through the North Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre and explore the importance and impact of stories in their lives.
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Wapos Bay: Long GoodbyesDennis Jackson 2011 1 h 12 minIn this feature animation film, Talon and Raven learn that their dad, Alphonse, has taken a job in the big city and their family will have to move away from Wapos Bay, their Cree community in Northern Saskatchewan. This news takes Talon on a journey of self-discovery as he sets off to accomplish his bucket list of things he wanted to do with his friends before they leave. Raven, on the other hand, decides to take matters into her own hands with the clear goal of keeping the family in Wapos Bay. With their whole world being turned upside down, Talon and Raven must join forces to keep the family together before it’s too late.
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Wapos Bay: Long Goodbyes (English & Cree version)Dennis Jackson 2011 1 h 12 minIn this feature film, Talon and Raven learn that their dad, Alphonse, has taken a job in the big city and their family will have to move away from Wapos Bay. This news takes Talon on a journey of self-discovery as he sets off to accomplish his bucket list of things he wanted to do with his friends before they leave. Raven, on the other hand, decides to take matters into her own hands with the clear goal of keeping the family in Wapos Bay. With their whole world being turned upside down, Talon and Raven must join forces to keep the family together before it’s too late.
