Tewatero:rok highlights youth native film efforts

The 6th Annual Native Student Film Festival was held this past Monday morning, which was well attended by Akwesasne community members and students. Held once again at Galaxy Cinemas in Cornwall, audience members were able to enjoy popcorn while they watched films from the A.M.B.E. Skahwatsi:ra Program, Akwesasne Freedom School and Salmon River Native Film Class.

Students were able to enjoy an hour of short films in the Mohawk Language, including an animated rendition of a traditional story explaining a constellation of stars. Highlights of A.M.B.E.’s annual language show also made their debut, with talented Akwesasronon having been captured performing their skits.

The morning ended with exceptional work by Salmon River Central Schools Native Film Class, who produced 7 documentaries as independent projects and one fictional movie class project.

The first documentary highlighted the sport of lacrosse, with interviews provided by David White, Stuart Martin and Mike Thompson. White provided the background of lacrosse and the development of the sport as well as his own background. The choice of interview subjects for this project were well made, as the connection between aspiring player Martin who identifies established players like Thompson as heroes of the sport. The photographic imagery supporting the subject matter was well placed within the flow of the documentary.

The second documentary was surrounding the often-controversial topic of teen pregnancy. The range of interview subjects from health professionals, to teachers, to pregnant high school students and their parents and partners made for a poignant story of this taboo subject. The storyline was well developed as it examined the impacts of teen pregnancy on the youths emotional, societal, health and scholastic components to their wellbeing. The teacher interviewed for the film mentioned the stress that these young women are put under with the speculation they have to face while completing their studies. The strength of the students willing to share their viewpoint of being “that teenager” along with the realities of having to grow up too fast was humbling to watch. Especially having the parents willing to participate and share their mental processing of the new situation. This was truly an eye-opening view that takes the “Hollywood” out of a situation that was previously only really seen in dramatized shows like “16 and Pregnant”.

The third documentary was years in the making for the Native Film Class in capturing the creation story. Technical difficulties at the time of the original filming kept the footage unused until this year, while the previous classes scouted for twins to play the important role. The footage depicting this ancient story was impeccably composed with the post-production effects giving the Skyworld an ethereal glow. Even having Skywoman falling was masterfully depicted. The narration provided for the story was done entirely in Kanienke’ha (Mohawk) language, fitting for such an important film. The actors themselves effortlessly pulled off their lines all in the language, a feat in itself.

Two documentaries were completed on the same subject, the Akwesasne Freedom School and the transition that the students go through to complete the program and merge into the public school system. Each of the AFS Alumni who were interviewed demonstrated the same strength in their cultural identities. Including interviews with the current Administrator Aronhiaies Herne and his parents who sent all of their children to the school illustrated the success of the program. In each documentary the cut points from one interview to the next were well selected to reinforce the overall message of the film. With one having an interview in Kanienke’ha with English sub-titles running at the bottom showing the dedication to communicating the story. Translating and matching the sub-titles to the footage and photomontage is a time consuming process.

The sixth documentary covered the Rites of Passage program that is available to Akwesasronon who want to go through this process to shed their childhood in order to move into adulthood. Great research was put into depicting a message of support for this holistic view of growing up. Interviews were done with past and current youth in the program, as well as those who organize it as aunts and uncles. This was another great example of using supporting photographs from one of the participants’ journey through the program, provided courtesy of the family. Watching this film provided a great sense of pride in traditional teachings being continued by this group of young people who put so much work into their journey towards adulthood.

The seventh and final documentary of the show was in sharp contrast to the one previous. Aptly dubbed Zombie Generation, this documentary focused on the prescription drug abuse problem in the youth of Akwesasne today, with specific focus on the abuse of Oxycodone. With the first interview with a pharmacist to illustrate the varying dosages of the drug, the film took a surreal turn as the filmmaker interviewed a recovering addict. The subject had agreed to provide an interview only if their identity was withheld, which was achieved by using filters over their footage to mask the face of the subject. With this trick in place the subject was able to relate the changes in their own life as the drug quickly took hold over everything they did. This film was another in a series of extremely well done films that appear as though students at a higher level of learning would have produced them.

The crowning achievement of the class was a fictional story interconnecting traditional values, local folklore, and current teenage pressures into a well-scripted entertaining movie. With this tale being developed entirely from the students creativity to write the storyline, the script, develop a storyboard, scout locations, and cast the film; the amount of work that went into this feature was impressive. The complexity of shooting on location at IGA, Iakhihsohtha and Chapman Road (to name a few); and in one scene having an Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service vehicle and uniformed officer as an extra, went above and beyond expectations.

Overall the films shown at this years’ Native Student Film Festival were very well done. It sets the bar high for everyone next year to improve and once again show the world what creativity exists here in Akwesasne.