A film launch in Owen Sound Thursday marks National Aboriginal Month.
Indigenous 150+ is a film and conversation series, which will see a national debut Thursday night at the Roxy Theatre. The film launch will honour First Nations, Inuit and Métis culture, history and teachings and to put indigenous voices at the centre of Canada 150 celebrations.
There will be a screening of Sacred Water, with insight into Indigenous water and land protectors that came together to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. Sacred Water will be accompanied by two short films by a Métis / Chippewa Cree filmmaker to illuminate the intrinsic bond of Indigenous cultures to the natural world.
Organizers invite local businesses to screen Indigenous films for their employees as a way to commemorate 2017 in a meaningful and respectful way.
"Reconciliation can only begin when real understanding of our Indigenous history and experience is acknowledged and discussed openly. It is hoped that these film presentations will initiate the honest dialogue necessary for this to begin," says Renee Abram, executive director for the M’Wikwedong Native Cultural Centre.
The founding partners include the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Territory, inlcuding the M’Wikwedong Native Cultural Centre, the Great Lakes Métis Council, the City of Owen Sound, Ontario Arts Council and most recently Ontario Power Generation (OPG).
The founder of INDIGENOUS 150+ and Good Influence Films, JoAnne Fishburn, says she was inspired by a trip to the Yukon to attend the Available Light Film Festival.
“When I visited Whitehorse I got to experience a much more Indigenized and inclusive Canada," she says. "It profoundly impacted me and provided a vision for what Canada could be. After reading the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions 94 calls to action I realized that as an individual I could personally respond and bring my skills to the table. As a Canadian I feel a responsibility to educate myself and do what I can to contribute to an inclusive country. I am learning everyday and my life is much richer for it."