TAUTUKTAVUK (1:22:00)

Monday, November 11, 2024

7:00pm

FACETS

1517 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

Blurring the line between narrative and non-fiction, Uyarak and her eldest sister Saqpinak, embark on a difficult healing journey after a traumatic event that reminds them of the importance of community, culture, and family. Tautuktavuk (What We See) explores issues of domestic violence and substance abuse from the perspective of two Inuit women.

Directed by: Lucy TULUGARJUK/ Carol KUNNUK

ADMISSION VIA EVENT BRITE (Limited Seating!):

Red Fever

MUSIC BOX THEATRE
3733 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613

Red Fever is a witty and entertaining feature documentary about the profound yet hidden Indigenous influence on Western culture and identity.

The film follows Cree co-director Neil Diamond as he asks, “Why do they love us so much?” and sets out on a journey to find out why the world is so fascinated with the stereotypical imagery of Native people that is all over pop culture.

Why have Indigenous cultures been revered, romanticized, and appropriated for so long, and to this day? Red Fever uncovers the surprising truths behind the imagery so buried in history that even most Native people don’t know about them.

Directed by Neil Diamond (Cree, Waskaganish community), Catherine Bainbridge

ADMISSION VIA EVENTBRITE (Limited Seating!):

The Body Remembers When the World BrokeOpen

Countries  Canada    Year  2019    

Synopsis

Áila encounters Rosie on a rainy Vancouver street—pregnant, barefoot, sobbing and fleeing domestic abuse. Compelled to help her, she offers her home as refuge. Over the course of a single day, the two connect, unpack Rosie’s traumas, and form an intimate bond. Shot in “real time” with an eye for delicate detail, this tender drama explores ideas of motherhood, self-care, and the drastically different lives of two Indigenous women.

Run Time  105 minutesIn-person Screening

Wed, Jun 26 @ 6:30pm CDT

at Chicago History Museum

Free tickets at: https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/the-body-remembers/

Post-screening discussion led by Samantha Garcia, Co-Director, First Nations Film and Video Festival.

Duke University Screening

FNFVF will be screening a 90 minute short film program at the Rubenstain Arts Center Film Theater at Duke University on Saturday April 13 at 2pm.

Sponsored by Duke Native American Studies Initiative and Duke Conematic Arts. This event is Free and open to the Public.

Film Program Includes:

Canoe Connections (2023)

Directed by Reeva Billy [Squamish Nation (Canada, West Coast)]

4:25

An essential element of maintaining culture in First Nations communities is nurturing the practice of knowledge keepers passing on their cultural wisdom. For the Canoe Cultures program in Vancouver Canada, an Indigenous-lead non-profit carving centre, Mike Billy Sr. and Jr. are an example of the transference of knowledge from one generation of Squamish Nation War Canoe builder to the next. In this short film they both share their experiences of passing and receiving the torch and the future they imagine that keeping this legacy alive can bring. Through this age-old tradition the uninterrupted connection between ancestors and the present generation is maintained and flourishes.

katatjanik utippalianinga (The Return of Throat Singing) (2015)

Co-directed by Caroline Nochasak, Heather Angnatok, Jason Dicker, Jennifer Semigak, Joshua Jararuse, Matmatil Angnatok, Maxwell Saksagiak, Nancy Nochasak, Sarah Semigak Lidd, Jenn Brown, Troy Maher [Inuit]

7:00 min

The community of Nain in northern Labrador is rich with breathtaking landscapes and people with a strong storytelling history. Created through the St. John's International Women's Film Festival's FRAMED film educations series, in partnership with the Nunatsiavut Government, this film explores throat singing- a special talent and traditional game for both fun and public entertainment, which was nearly destroyed but has since been revived.

We Make Stories Out of Totem Poles (2015)

Directed by Sean Stiller, Patricia Marcoccia [Shuswap (Secwepemc) Nation]

8:09 min

The Kwakwak’wakw First Nation of Vancouver Island is recognized internationally for its rich history of art and expert craftsmanship. The long-lasting effects of residential schools left many carvers disconnected from the meanings and stories behind traditional carvings. This short film opens a window into the world of Charles Joseph, a residential school survivor and a rare master carver in the community that still knows the stories.

JAAT SDIIHLYL'LXA Woman Who Returns (2016)

Directed by Heather Hatch [Haida Gwaii]

10:00 min

Heather didn't know she was Haida until she was 16. Now, she's returning to Haida Gwaii to join her clan and receive her Haida name.

Jane & the Wolf (2016)

Directed by Nadine Arpin [Red River Michif]

9:45 min

In the 1960s, Pagwa River was a booming railroad town populated by 2nd generation Crees. During one cold winter, the community was being stalked by a lone wolf. Every attempt to kill the wolf failed. Jane recognized the wolf as a spirit sign from the ancestors. Ridiculed for her beliefs, Jane set out alone to killing the wolf using the old ways.

Narrated by Jane’s Great Granddaughter Rachel Garrick, Jane’s story is interwoven with Rachel’s own journey to bring her mother Minnie Garrick to her final resting place. Minnie was a story teller, a surviver, and a woman who reclaimed her life despite many personal challenges. Minnie had passed on the story of Jane to Rachel at a time in her life when Rachel most needed to hear about the strength that is inherent in their family.

Light (2017)

Directed by Sarah Hennigan [Cherokee]

14:55min

A gifted young woman launches into the darkness to find a way to save her people. What she uncovers, nobody expected.

Darkness takes the world, with only around 10 minutes of light left each day. Humanity is dying. A gifted young woman is sent out into the darkness in a last-ditch effort to find a lifeline. If she returns empty-handed, or without the guard sent out with her to document the findings, she’ll be left to the darkness, and whatever lies within. A 21st-Century reinterpretation of a Cherokee oral story.

The Handsome Man (2022)

Directed by Misty Shipman and Hope Shipman [Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe (both directors, sisters, are enrolled)]

15:34 min

When River meets a stranger who calls himself "The Handsome Man," on the borders of her reservation, she invites him home, and all manner of commotion ensues. Can Grandpa restore balance to the family and heal a generations' old curse?

In Our Own Hands (2021)

Directed by Jennifer Varenchik [Tohono O'odham]

11:00 min

A group of women plan rescue efforts when one of their own goes missing from their reservation.

Visit the Rubenstein Arts Center Website for more info.

The Fall 2023 edition of the First Nations Film and Video Festival closes with the Chicago debut of Cody Lightning's "Hey Viktor!", fresh from the Tribecca Film Festival, at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport Ave, on Friday, November 10, 2023 at 7:00pm.

EventBrite tickets are required for entry.

From the Tribecca Film Festival website:
"It’s been 25 years since all eyes were on the Cree kid from Edmonton who made it big with a starring role in the indie hit Smoke Signals. Now grown up, former child actor Cody Lightning is deep in the bottle and down on his luck, basking in past glories via faded VHS tapes and endlessly rewriting zombie-priest scripts with creative partner Kate (Hannah Cheesman). When his friends stage an intervention, Cody seizes the moment — and camera crew — to take one last shot at producing Smoke Signals 2. With backing from a psycho investor and in hot pursuit of Adam Beach’s wig to tie the film together, Lightning’s deliriously dysfunctional set becomes a mess of unresolved tension and self-destruction, leading to a long-overdue reckoning with the community that raised him.

Unapologetic and unafraid to milk sacred cows, Hey Viktor! is an irreverent comedy that’s as smart as it is raunchy, and marks the arrival of a major comedic voice in Native cinema. With rich supporting turns from Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer, and Simon Baker, Lightning strikes a balance between riffing on the work of a previous generation and the importance of community."––Cedar Sherbert

Official synopsis: (Language warning)
Twenty years removed from childhood fame as Little Viktor in 1998’s Smoke Signals, CODY LIGHTNING has been forced to move home to his reserve in northern Alberta. He still believes himself to be famous— even though the only parts he gets these days are porn & fracking commercials. But when Cody learns his wife and kids are leaving him for a younger, more successful actor, he decides it’s time to quit fucking around and make his masterpiece— writing, directing, & starring in SMOKE SIGNALS 2: STILL SMOKING. A documentary crew follows Cody on his journey around the Indigenous world— re-uniting the original cast, borrowing money from arms dealers, & realizing his vision... just in time to realize his vision was shit.

So, this film will be a trip. We hope that you can join FNFVF Inc in presenting this brand new feature to Chicago audiences!

LIMITED SEATING AVAILABLE! Ticket link goes live on OCT 1st!

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you there!

The Fall 2023 edition of the First Nations Film and Video Festival open with Marie Clements feature film "Bones of Crows" at Facets, 1517 W Fullerton Ave on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 7:00pm.

EventBrite tickets are required for entry.

"Bones of Crows" is a multi-generational epic and story of resilience told through the eyes of Cree Matriarch Aline Spears (played by Summer Testawich; Grace Dove, Monkey Beach; and Carla Rae, Rutherford Falls). Removed from their family home and forced into Canada’s residential school system, young musical prodigy Aline and her siblings are plunged into a struggle for survival. Over the next hundred years, Aline and her descendants fight against systemic starvation, racism and sexual abuse—and to build a more just future.

A sweeping drama grounded in historical truth, Bones of Crows weaves together underrepresented moments in Canadian and Indigenous history, including the Indigenous contributions to WW2, the ongoing cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Aline’s story enriches our understanding of the past and empowers us to address our collective future.

Join us for a post-screening reception sponsored by the Canadian Consulate in Chicago and catered by Ketapanen Kitchen.

“The Conqueror's Remorse? Part One":

Natives on Non-Native Directors Exploiting Native Grief

The Revisionist Westerns, the Environmentalist Messengers, the Poverty Saints, the Addiction Narratives, the Casino Corrupted, the Vanished, and the exploitation of such tropes. Indigenous filmmakers discuss the expectation non-Native filmmakers have of the communities they film and use for the promotion of their own works and elevation of their own voice above the communities that they exploit.

Join us via Zoom for this FREE PROGRAM.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87815514705?pwd=zikxmCeUCB4Vt9ysoL2RqENSvJRHie.1

Meeting ID: 878 1551 4705

Passcode: FNFVFPanel

Scheduled Panelist include:

ZOOM Details will be posted here and on the Facebook Event Page on Saturday, October 28th.