New film festival in Fredericton to highlight Indigenous filmmakers

A new film festival in Fredericton, with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin as a participant,is hoping to shine a spotlight on Indigenous filmmakers.

The festival, which will be held between Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, is organized by St. Thomas University andis a part of the university's reconciliation efforts.

STU has been showcasing work by indigenous filmmakers for years through an on-campus film series, but after some low attendance figures decided to consolidate those efforts into a three-day festival hoping to attract more people.

"We hope that there would be a bit of a buzz around the event and that this will bring in better attendance for the three days of the festival," said Andr Loiselle, a STU film professor who is involved with organizing the festival.

"Really our goal is to try to familiarize people on campus with indigenous films, obviously, but [also] the issues that those films bring."

Kennlin Barlow, a Mi'kmaw filmmaker from Indian Island near Rexton, said he's honoured his work hasbeen chosen for screening at the festival.

"For me it feels very historic because this is the first Indigenous film festival here in New Brunswick," said Barlow.

TIFF film headlining

The feature attraction of the festival will be a screening of Jordan River Anderson: The Messenger by Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin.

The film premiered this year at the Toronto International Film Festival and tells the story of Jordan River Anderson, who was the inspiration behind "Jordan's Principle," a policy that mandates that Indigenous children living in Canada must receive the same level of care as non-Indigenous children.

Obomsawin will also be offering a three-day workshop for some STU students interested in film.

"Film is a way for her really to convey issues around the reality of Indigenous people in Canada," said Loiselle.

"We really hope that through her presence students who are interested or think that they are interested in using film as a way to express themselves will really be inspired."

Cannes short screening

The festival will also feature short films from Indigenous filmmakers from New Brunswick.

Barlow is showcasing two short films at the festival: anew short called Twelve-Thirty, and Mancanti(or the violence of man), anon-narrative art house film that first screened at the SilverWave Film Festival back in 2016.

Barlow said he's excited for this new opportunity to showcase his work after some negative reactions Mancanti received at SilverWave.

"Some of them were shocked and some of them were a littlelike they didn't know how to process it," said Barlow.

"A few of them decided to just start laughing and kind of mocking the film a little bit I wasn't too sure really whether or not it felt a little racist because [of the subject matter]," said Barlow.

Since the shaky start the film has gone on to be featured at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Barlow said the Indigenous film community in the province is small and he's hoping this festival will help raise awareness of that scene and inspire other Indigenous people to take up filmmaking.

"We hope that this Indigenous Film Festival will ignite some inspiration to others who are kind of too scared to really bring their work out," said Barlow.

"I know there's so many filmmakers around here that are our Indigenous people that are kind of scared to really bring their work outside the reservation."