Indigenous content: Telling stories with intention at Regent Park Film Festival
By Laura E. Young
SUDBURY – The silver screen awaits Indigenous films but there is always more to this story.
It’s not just about featuring Indigenous filmmakers but having them in leadership roles to curate and program the films, says Faduma Gure, programmer at Regent Park Film Festival (RPFF).
The free community film festival recently wrapped up its 18th annual event, November 26-29.
In addition to its festival, RPFF also provides professional development through workshops, internships, and education, among other programming.
Gure does worry about tokenism, however.
“To me, it’s not enough that something is a particular kind of film. My intention with programming comes with [whether] I think this story is worth showing. Technically, it’s genius. Esthetically, I think it’s amazing. But it’s also relatable.”
And that’s where Ruthless Souls fits in.
The 2019 production featured Mary Galloway, an Indigenous actor, writer and director from the Cowichan Tribes of B.C., and Madison Thomas, a filmmaker of Ojibwe and Saulteux in Winnipeg.
Gure loves Thomas’s film for the way it touches on arguably universal themes of grief, guilt, the enduring strength of friendship.
Gure says that in addition to the acting and plot, “it was super important to show this film in this time.”
“I can’t imagine how many people are currently feeling isolated or are trying to tough it out without asking for support. I think this year has challenged a lot of us to really understand what it means to check up on your family,” Gure says. “This film shows the bond between lifelong friends who work to take care of each other. It also shows the not-so-pretty side of giving and receiving care.”
Indigenous programming is also about doing the necessary due diligence and consultation with the communities so that their stories are being reflected correctly, she says.
She wants to see Indigenous filmmakers fill a variety of roles, including leadership, production, and musical scoring of a film.
“There is just so much that is overlooked when it’s not up to us to show those stories. There is so much brilliance that I hope to see at Regent Park Film Festival,” Gure says. “Hopefully more of these filmmakers get picked up and supported. I just want Indigenous filmmakers to be supported. There are so many great stories out there.”
This year’s festival reflected on the theme of displacement.
“We explored the theme of displacement in context of[(who] you are in this place and what our relationship is to this land, either as black people, people of colour or Indigenous people. I think it’s a really important theme to sit with and reflect on.”
Regent Park, a densely populated, complexly composed neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, is comprised primarily of families of colour, Indigenous – and dealing with fallout from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, beyond the high rates of infection.
“There are so many levels to this displacement – environmentally, medically, financially,” she adds.
Link: http://regentparkfilmfestival.com/ and National Firm Board: https://www.nfb.ca/film/ruthless-souls/