REEL CANADA Blog : Tags : Memere Metisse

For two days in April, students at New Westminster Secondary School were treated to several inspiring screenings of short films on issues of Aboriginal identity and social justice.

Thanks to the efforts of teacher Lorena Jones, the school library was transformed into a screening venue and attentive crowds of students filed in to enjoy the films.

REEL CANADA’s own Deanne Esdale attended the event and facilitated discussions with two audiences of 100+ students who were attending the social justice-themed screenings. They discussed issues such as the Rwandan genocide after a screening of the short documentary YESTERDAY IN RWANDA, and perspectives on immigration after a screening of the short film TAXI LIBRE.

Even larger crowds turned up to be part of the Aboriginal issues session, and watched THE VISIT, WAPAWEKKA, and the documentary MEMERE METISSE. Seeing unique perspectives on Aboriginal identity told by young filmmakers was refreshing for the students and sparked much great debate. They’d recently watched a hard-hitting doc about residential schools, and were happy to also see some positive stories and expressions of Aboriginal identity in Canada on the big screen.

The event was a real launching pad for discussions and students were energized and enthusiastic to share their comments. We look forward to connecting with the students of New Westminster Secondary School again next year. 

REEL CANADA festivals come in all shapes and sizes.  Sometimes we take over an entire high school for a whole day and show six films to 1,000 kids in three different venues, sometimes it’s just a few classes in the auditorium on a given afternoon.

REEL CANADA snuck quietly into Manitoba for the first time yesterday, with a pocket-sized event in the town of Stonewall, about 45 minutes outside of Winnipeg.  At the request of teacher Cathy Redman-Chalmers, and with the help of our new Manitoba coordinator Terri Cherniack, we arranged for a local filmmaker to come and speak to her media class about filmmaking.

Filmmaker Janelle Wookey and her grandmother

The director was the incredibly charming Janelle Wookey who brought her documentary MÉMÉRE MÉTISSE.  The film chronicles her playful but determined efforts to persuade her grandmother to acknowledge and embrace their Metis ancestry.  With its combination of sincerity, simplicity and do-it-yourself inventiveness, it was a perfect film to show a class of young aspirants to the film industry.  As an added treat, Janelle actually brought along Memere, her beloved grandmother!

Janelle was impressed with the number and quality of the questions:  Why did she choose her grandmother as a subject?  How did she get started as a filmmaker?  What has happened with the film since its premier?  How did the film change her and how did it change her grandmother?  As an added surprise, there was a CBC crew on hand making a film about Janelle!  They were drawn into the encounter when the students started asking them questions as well.

One screening, one classroom, one dynamic interaction with some young Canadian storytellers.  The REEL CANADA First National Tour marches on.

Students in a film class at Stonewall Collegiate Institute in Stonewall, MB will be treated to a special screening of the short documentary MEMERE METISSE on today with filmmaker (and documentary subject!) Janelle Wookey in attendance to answer their questions. The film is a heartwarming family tale of Janelle's journey to try to get her grandmother to acknowledge her Metis heritage. Students will get the opportunity to discuss Canadian and Aboriginal identity as well as the craft of filmmaking with the talented young filmmaker.  

This event will be our first in the province of Manitoba, and while we're coming back next week for a 400+ student event in Winnipeg, we're still pretty pumped about getting our feet wet in Manitoba with Stonewall Collegiate - all thanks to the efforts of our teacher contact there, Cathy Redman-Chalmers, who contacted us about bringing a filmmaker into her classroom, and made it all happen. 

REEL CANADA's 'Manitoba maven', Terri Cherniack, will be running this event (it's her first time, too). Janelle is a veteran of the program - she came to Sudbury with us for a screening of MÉMÉRE MÉTISSE in 2010.