The imagineNative Film and Media Arts Festival kicks off this week, celebrating its 11th year as what is known as the most prominent Indigenous arts festival worldwide.
The four-day festival includes several shorts programs, feature films, documentaries, performance arts pieces, media installations, workshops and panels as well as parties.
A Who’s Who of the Indigenous Arts community, imagineNative features contributions from around the world. The themes do not always focus on culture or indigeneity, but showcase many artists who are often under or misrepresented in the film and arts world.
I had an opportunity to review several films featured at the festival. Had I not been familiar with the usual stellar caliber of imagineNative films, I would have been slightly alarmed after viewing Ariel Smith’s short, “Dear Diary” (Moonshine Shorts Program 1, Thursday October 21st ). “Dear Diary” screens like a first year film school project: pseudo surrealism on a low budget with a highly ambiguous visual narrative. Meh.
Fortunately the other two shorts showed much more promise. Torontonian Shane Belcourt’s “Keeping Quiet” (Thundering Whispers Shorts Program II, Friday October 22nd) features the melancholic story of a lonely parking garage attendant seeking companionship through the classifieds. Samoan Misa Tupou’s “One Night” (also Moonshine Shorts Program) offers a harrowing glimpse into the isolating world of a masked homeless man on the desolate nighttime streets of Honolulu’s china town.
The closing night feature film “A Windigo Tale” includes the screen debut of University of Toronto’s Aboriginal Studies instructor Lee Maracle, who is also a renowned writer within the community. “A Windigo Tale” utilizes the Anishinabe tradition of the Windigo to tell of the devastating effects of residential schools. A meshing of suspense thriller and drama, “A Windigo Tale” leaves a haunting impression and makes for an excellent primer for those unfamiliar with the generational impact of residential schools.
I managed to have a quick Q & A with imagineNative’s MediaMashup performance artist Tara Beagan, who’s piece “Foundlings” takes place Thursday October 21st at the Edward Day Gallery. “Foundlings” is described as the story of a Cree man who becomes the first client of the high-end familial match making service, The Gallery Agency.
Q: This performance piece is described as a “Media Mash Up”. What are some of the mediums that will be used during the presentation of Foundlings?
A: Live performance, video, and the principle thing that qualifies it as performance art is the participation of the audience. [Audience members are] treated as though they are shopping for a familial candidate.
Q: The main character, Harmon Revienes is described as a “self-actualized Cree” What does that mean exactly?
A: He’s a man who’s claimed his place in the world...firm in his identity, and has pride in his roots.
Q: The Gallery Agency, described as a “High End Familial Matchmaking company” is an intriguing idea. What was the inspiration for this piece?
A: There is an ongoing imbalance as far as parental figures go in a lot of northern communities, in particular First Nations, a lot of women raising our children, a lot of absent fathers. There are no direct answers as to why this is. “Foundlings” offers a round about way of having that discussion without laying any blame on anyone’s head.
The four-day festival includes several shorts programs, feature films, documentaries, performance arts pieces, media installations, workshops and panels as well as parties.
A Who’s Who of the Indigenous Arts community, imagineNative features contributions from around the world. The themes do not always focus on culture or indigeneity, but showcase many artists who are often under or misrepresented in the film and arts world.
I had an opportunity to review several films featured at the festival. Had I not been familiar with the usual stellar caliber of imagineNative films, I would have been slightly alarmed after viewing Ariel Smith’s short, “Dear Diary” (Moonshine Shorts Program 1, Thursday October 21st ). “Dear Diary” screens like a first year film school project: pseudo surrealism on a low budget with a highly ambiguous visual narrative. Meh.
Fortunately the other two shorts showed much more promise. Torontonian Shane Belcourt’s “Keeping Quiet” (Thundering Whispers Shorts Program II, Friday October 22nd) features the melancholic story of a lonely parking garage attendant seeking companionship through the classifieds. Samoan Misa Tupou’s “One Night” (also Moonshine Shorts Program) offers a harrowing glimpse into the isolating world of a masked homeless man on the desolate nighttime streets of Honolulu’s china town.
The closing night feature film “A Windigo Tale” includes the screen debut of University of Toronto’s Aboriginal Studies instructor Lee Maracle, who is also a renowned writer within the community. “A Windigo Tale” utilizes the Anishinabe tradition of the Windigo to tell of the devastating effects of residential schools. A meshing of suspense thriller and drama, “A Windigo Tale” leaves a haunting impression and makes for an excellent primer for those unfamiliar with the generational impact of residential schools.
I managed to have a quick Q & A with imagineNative’s MediaMashup performance artist Tara Beagan, who’s piece “Foundlings” takes place Thursday October 21st at the Edward Day Gallery. “Foundlings” is described as the story of a Cree man who becomes the first client of the high-end familial match making service, The Gallery Agency.
Q: This performance piece is described as a “Media Mash Up”. What are some of the mediums that will be used during the presentation of Foundlings?
A: Live performance, video, and the principle thing that qualifies it as performance art is the participation of the audience. [Audience members are] treated as though they are shopping for a familial candidate.
Q: The main character, Harmon Revienes is described as a “self-actualized Cree” What does that mean exactly?
A: He’s a man who’s claimed his place in the world...firm in his identity, and has pride in his roots.
Q: The Gallery Agency, described as a “High End Familial Matchmaking company” is an intriguing idea. What was the inspiration for this piece?
A: There is an ongoing imbalance as far as parental figures go in a lot of northern communities, in particular First Nations, a lot of women raising our children, a lot of absent fathers. There are no direct answers as to why this is. “Foundlings” offers a round about way of having that discussion without laying any blame on anyone’s head.
