Geronimo Inutiq of Wapikoni Cinema on Wheels speaks to the crowd at the James Mason Centre ahead of the Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film short films screening July 28.

Hub Staff

Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film makes a stop at Saugeen First Nation July 28 where it teamed up with the Wapikoni Cinema on Wheels Tour showcasing select short films by Indigenous youth in an outdoor screening at the James Mason Memorial Culture and Recreation Centre.

The Festival, organized by the Grey Zone Collective, began its 2017 run at Sauble Beach with a collection of short films created by Indigenous filmmakers from across North America through imagineNATIVE, and featured a short film titled “Being Brown” by Pow Wow dancer Ziibi Cameron of Saugeen First Nation, on what its like to be a Pow Wow dancer through his reflections.

Debbie Ebanks of the Grey Zone Collective said they are grateful to have a partnership with Saugeen First Nation as they root themselves in Saugeen Ojibway territory. Ebanks said the week-long festival that took place in Sauble Beach, Durham, Hanover and Saugeen First Nation received good feedback and had good attendance.

“Some of the work is difficult to see, particularly for non-Indigenous being confronted with some of the past and the history. There’s a lot of humour dealing with it, some of it’s abstract and experimental so there’s a lot going on,” she said. “I think we’ve got a very mixed audience and I love it.”

Ebanks went on to say that there have been multiple perspectives shown throughout the festival and that “that’s what we’re all about... it’s one small way towards reconciliation.”

Wapikoni Cinema on Wheels is touring across ten provinces and will hit over 80 Indigenous communities throughout the tour and July 28th marked their stop at Saugeen First Nation before heading east.

For 13 years Wapikoni has sent four production caravans filled with studio equipment, including cinematographers, to First Nation communities for 28 days. The youth from the communities are invited to try out the equipment and create their own stories. “All the stories come from the communities and the youth that are involved in the project,” said Geronimo Inutiq of Wapikoni. Over 1,000 films have been produced over the 13 years and the Cinema on Wheels tour showcases the films that have made it to the festival circuit and are ecstatically pleasing. Inutiq said Cinema on Wheels films have been screened at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah and the Toronto International Film Festival.

“We’re just trying to create links with some different communities,” said Inutiq. “The stories have been really great... really good platform to express ourselves.” He went on to say that no one story is the same as some address socio-political issues while others are music videos or animated shorts and some tell of legends within a particular community.

Inutiq said it’s a great way for youth to connect with their community through the process of film. “The goal of the project is to break the isolation of remote communities and a way to express voices within those communities... make them heard through the rest of the country and I think that’s really great,” he said, adding “they’re human stories so they speak to everyone.”

Wapikoni films can be viewed online at wapikoni.ca. During the July 28 screening Dan Kimewon showcased his piece “Keeping Traditions Alive.” The film showed his process of creating corn soup which was offered to everyone to eat at the screening.

The women behind the Grey Zone Collective’s Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film Lisa Sammut, Adrian Kahgee and Debbie Ebanks, July 28 at the Saugeen First Nation stop on the tour.

Dan Kimewon stressed the importance of keeping traditions alive when the Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film made a stop at Saugeen First Nation July 28.