ABOUT
ORIGINAL TITLE: THE EMBARGO PROJECT
DIRECTORS: Caroline Monnet, Zoe Hopkins, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Lisa Jackson, and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril.
PRODUCERS: Catherine Chagnon
CO-PRODUCED BY: Lori Lozinski, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril,
Jennifer Millington
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Danis Goulet
A commission of: imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival With support from: Canada Council for the Arts
Date completed: 2015
Country: Canada
Film Category: Fiction
Length: 73 min
SYNOPSIS
The Embargo Project is an anthology of five short films by Canadian Indigenous women. Participating in a collective process, each director created a film under restrictions imposed on them by their peers, to push each artist into new creative territory.
SHORT FILMS
Written and directed by: Caroline Monnet
Cast: Marie Brassard, Julien Morin
Produced by: Catherine Chagnon
Company: Microclimat Films (Montréal, QC)
Executive Producer: Danis Goulet
Cinematographer: Stéphanie Weber Biron
Editor: Aube Foglia
Sound: Guillaume Daoust, Jean-François B. Sauvé, Jean Paul Vialard (NFB)
Art Direction: Amy Sara Keith
Costumes: Éric Poirier Make-up/Hair: Corinne Blot
ROBERTA
Fiction / French with English subtitles/ 9 minutes
SYNOPSIS
Housewife and grandmother Roberta struggles to fit the conformist society she lives in and turns to amphetamines and booze to cure her boredom..
DIRECTOR'S BIO
CAROLINE MONNET (Algonquin), Montréal, QC. Caroline Monnet is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist of Algonquin ancestry from Outaouais, Québec. Using film, video, painting, photography and installation, her work demonstrates a keen interest in communicating complex ideas around Indigenous identity and bicultural living through the examination of cultural histories. Her short videos Ikwé and Warchild were both selected for TIFF and her short film Gephyrophobia was selected for Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent showcase at Cannes. Monnet lives in Montréal and is also a founding member of the Aboriginal digital arts collective ITWÉ.
Written and directed by: Zoe Hopkins
Cast: Santee Smith, Tammy Hill, Julien Ballentyne, Brian Maracle, Barbara Miller, Amy Bomberry
Produced by: Lyvia Cohen, Jennifer Millington
Producer: Zoe Hopkins
Company: Skyworld Productions (Six Nations, ON)
Executive Producer: Danis Goulet
Cinematographer: Michael Leblanc
Production Design: Tisha Myles
Music: Digging Roots
SKYWORLD
Fiction / English, Mohawk / 18 minutes
SYNOPSIS
A broken-hearted woman moves home to rebuild her life and give her young son roots through language and family.
DIRECTOR'S BIO
ZOE HOPKINS (Heiltsuk/Mohawk), Six Nations, ON An alumnus of the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, Zoe Hopkins has made several short films that have screened around the world at festivals including Sundance, Worldwide Short Film Festival and Berlin. Her film The Garden won the NSI Online Festival Festival’s A&E Short FIlmmakers Award and her most recent short film Mohawk Midnight Runners won the Best Canadian Short Drama at the 2013 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.
Written and directed by: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Cast: Duncan Ollrenshaw, Laura Wilson, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Mariel Belanger, Máret Áile Gaup Beaska, Ánda Somby
Producers: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Laura Good
Executive Producers: Lori Lozinski, Danis Goulet
Company: Violator Films (Vancouver, BC)
Cinematographers: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Oliver Millar
Editor: Bridget Durnford
Music: Ánde Somby Production
Design: Caitlin Byrnes Animator: Kunal Sen, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
BIHTTOŠ (REBEL)
Documentary / English, Sámi with English subtitles / 14 minutes
SYNOPSIS
Bihttošis an unconventional documentary that explores the complex relationship between a father and daughter. Through animation, reenactments, and archival photos, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers delves into the dissolution of her parents' somewhat mythic love story and how it relates to the dissolution of her relationship with her father
DIRECTOR'S BIO
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers is an emerging filmmaker, actor, and writer. Her films have screened at numerous international festivals including imagineNATIVE and the Vancouver International Film Festival. In 2012, her short film A Red Girl’s Reasoning won the Best Canadian Short Drama at imagineNATIVE. In 2013, she was selected for the Indigenous Film Fellowship by the International Sámi Film Centre in Norway to develop her first feature-length screenplay. She is an alumnus of the Berlinale Talent Campus.
Written and directed by: Lisa Jackson
Cast: Kevin Loring, Gregory Odjig, Joshua Ranville, Kindall Charters, Reneltta Arluk, Curtis Ahenakew, Clint Andrews, Sam Bob, Ray Thunderchild, Mark James, Jason Harder
Produced by: Lori Lozinski, Erica Landrock, Lisa Jackson Executive Producer: Danis Goulet Company: Violator Films (Vancouver, BC) Executive Producer: Danis Goulet
Cinematographer: Bob Aschmann
Editor: Adam Locke-Norton Music: Gabe Desrosiers
Production Design: Sean McQuillan Make-up/ Hair: Kita Nahanni
INTEMPERANCE
Fiction / English, Anishinaabe/ 10 minutes
SYNOPSIS
In 1850, George Copway was the first Indian to publish a history of his nation, the Ojibway. Intemperance is a satire that brings to life a morally complex story of his people living in changing times.
DIRECTOR'S BIO
Named one of Playback Magazine’s " 10 to Watch " in 2012, Lisa Jackson’s genre-blending films span documentary, animation and fiction. Her work has screened on most networks in Canada including CTV, CBC, TMN, and APTN and at major international festivals including Berlin, imagineNATIVE and SXSW. Her work has also garnered numerous awards and her film Savage won the Genie award for Best Short Film in 2010. She is an alumnus of the Canadian Film Centre.
Written by: Dallas Varcoe
Cast: Miali Buscemi, Malaya Qaunirq Chapman, Franco Buscemi, Paul Nutarariaq, Reverend Mike Gardener, Elisapee Johnston
Directed by: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
Produced by: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Anne-Marie Stuart, Miriam
Levin-Gold
Company: Unikkaat Studios (Iqaluit, NT) Executive
Producers: Danis Goulet, Miranda De Pencier
Cinematographer: Qajaaq Ellsworth
Editor: Maureen Grant
Music: Paul Schrofel & Chris Ellsworth
AVILIAQ (ENTWINED)
Fiction / Inuktitut with English subtitles/ 15 minutes
SYNOPSIS
Set in a 1950's Inuit community, Aviliaq tells the story of two Inuit lesbians struggling to stay together in a new world run by outsiders.
DIRECTOR'S BIO
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril is an award-winning filmmaker who works in documentary and animation. Her work has been broadcast on CBC and APTN and has traveled extensively to festivals including Hot Docs and imagineNATIVE. In 2010, her NFB animation Lumaajuug won the Best Canadian Short Drama at imagineNATIVE, and in 2011, her animated short film Sloth was selected for Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent showcase at Cannes. Most recently, she was an executive producer on the short film Throat Song that won Best Live Action Short Film at the 2013 Canadian Screen Awards and screened at TIFF, and also made the 2014 Academy Awards short list.
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