A years-in-the-making initiative by the Canadian government and industry financiers has led to a historic close-up for Indigenous filmmakers at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.
“What we’re seeing is continued momentum that is real and is only increasing in the diversity of filmmaking and the success of (indigenous) filmmakers themselves,” Kerri Swanson, CEO of the Indigenous Film Office (ISO), tells The Hollywood Reporter after her organization helped finance eight First Nations filmmakers with movies premiering at TIFF this year.
Those include Cody Lightning’s hockey drama Smudge The Blades, Marie Clements’ Los Angeles-set drama How We Stand, Alexandra Lazarowich’s Turtle Island RAP and Nyla Innuksuk’s In the Heart of the South.
Federal Canadian government financing has been key to supporting ongoing efforts to fund First Nations filmmakers, including higher film budgets than in decades past, and to foster reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians after historical racism and injustices. “It’s about indigenous peoples telling your stories in your voices, and often in your languages, and that’s indispensable to showing the beauty of Indigenous culture,” Canadian minister of identity and culture Marc Miller told a TIFF event on Saturday morning hosted by the ISO.
