Eight Indigenous Films Premiere at Toronto Festival
Eight First Nations film-makers are premiering new features at the Toronto International Film Festival this year with backing from the Indigenous Screen Office.
The eight titles were financed with help from the organisation, known as the ISO, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They sit inside a wider line-up of 11 features by Indigenous directors at the 51st edition of the festival, with eight Canadian productions and three international productions, according to ICT News.
Four of the ISO-supported premieres were named. They are Cody Lightning's hockey drama Smudge The Blades, Marie Clements' Los Angeles-set drama How We Stand, Alexandra Lazarowich's Turtle Island RAP and Nyla Innuksuk's In the Heart of the South.
In the Heart of the South draws on familiar faces for northern audiences. It stars Inuit actors from the series North of North, with Anna Lambe leading as Yura Ivalu, according to TIFF.
ISO chief executive Kerri Swanson said federal Canadian government financing had supported First Nations film-makers with higher budgets than in decades past. Canadian Minister of Identity and Culture Marc Miller spoke at a TIFF event hosted by the ISO on Saturday morning.
The festival runs Sept. 9-20, and continues through Sept. 20. Its DIALOGUES programme includes a session titled Indigenous Actors Taking the Lead, with Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Sydney Freeland, Blackhorse Lowe, Andrew Okpeaha Maclean, Danis Goulet and Erica Tremblay listed as participants, according to TIFF. Waititi and Harjo created the series Reservation Dogs.
Last year's festival offered a pointer to the path for emerging directors. Gail Maurice premiered her second feature Bloodlines at TIFF last year. The film is a Métis same-sex romance led by actor Dana Solomon. Maurice's debut feature was Rosie.
What makes this stand out for festival-goers is range. Hockey, Los Angeles, hip-hop and the Arctic sit side by side in one national cinema strand. For fans, this means more than one entry point, and more names to follow when the films move beyond Toronto.
