4 years after Colten Pratt disappeared, get to know him through a film by his cousin

Four years after his cousin disappeared in Winnipeg, Sage Daniels wants people to know about Colten Pratt's personality: cheeky, sarcastic, sweet and quirky anything but a number.

"I don't like to think of Colten as a statistic," Daniels said Monday. "I like to think of him as a human being."

Tuesday marks four years since Pratt went missing in Winnipeg on Nov. 6, 2014. He was 26 at the time,last seenseen leaving Winnipeg's Marlborough Hotel in the downtown areaaround 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 6, 2014.

He was also possibly spotted at a bus shelter on Main Street near Redwood Avenue in the early morning hours of Nov. 7.

That December, Daniels a producer at film group Code Breaker Films said the idea came to make a film about his cousin, focusingon Pratt himself as a person.The 25-minutefilm, My Boy, premiered this summer.

"It's the story about getting to know him, as a person and a human being, rather than a statistic,"Danielssaid.

In the news coverage following Pratt's disappearance, and in other stories about other missing Indigenous men, Daniels said he has seen a too-common focus on statistics and numbersrather than individuals,as well as cruel, racist comments left by some readers.

"I didn't agree with any of that and I needed to show to the world, from my perspective at least, as his cousin, who he was," Danielssaid.

A story about a mother and son

Pratt and Daniels were best friends throughout childhood, attendingthe same elementary, middle and high schools.

Pratt, originally from Long Plain First Nation, was living in the St. Vital area at the time of his disappearance.

Pratt had faced adversity in his life people didn't understand his two-spirit identityand he encountered racism as well, Daniel said, adding Pratt turned to alcohol to dealwith the pain caused by those experiences and others.

"In the end, I think society failed him in that regard," he said.

Winnipeg police said Monday the investigation into Pratt's disappearance is active and ongoing.

In making the film about his cousin, Danielssaid it was sometimes a struggle to maintainhis own composure. He said his fellow filmmakers, Sonya Ballantyne andLuther Alexander, supported him through the process.

The film's principal speaker is Lydia Daniels, Colten Pratt's mother. Her voice and relationship with Pratt is the heart of the film, Danielssaid.

"A lot of people really understand what we were trying to do with the film, and that we were trying to tell a story without being a true crime documentary. We weren't trying to do that," he said. "We were trying to tell a story about a mother and her son."

'People connect with the film'

Since its summer debut in Ottawa'sAsinabkafilm festival, the film has also been shown at the Reel Pride film festival and theimagineNATIVEFilm andMedia Arts Festival.

Danielssaid hearing from audiences afterwardsbeen eye-opening for him as a filmmaker.

"A lot of people connect with the film because they know someone who is murdered or missing, be they male or female, and they understand what it's like to go through this kind of experience,"he said.

One of the key messages Danielshopes people take from the film is that "everyone deserves to come home."

"Also, that someone out thereknows," he said.

"Someone out there knows where Colten is and so we just want that one person to come forward and at least tell us where we can find him."

With files from Robin Summerfield and Aidan Geary