Film Making Success Touches Ahkwesahsne

There is a young Mohawk woman with Ahkwesahsne roots and she is becoming very successful in the world of Native films as a writer, producer, and a director. She is Roxann (Karonhiarokwas) Whitebean.  She has been in the filming business only one and a half years and has won awards already and has been recognized by many of the Canadian Associations.  Impressively, Roxann will have 5 credits to her name as a director while her career is progressing rapidly. 

Roxann was selected by a jury consisting of aboriginal artists who were asked to choose the three strongest projects.  She won as an emerging artist in the National competition hosted by the Canada Council of Arts.  She has also worked on season one and two of APTN's "Mohawk Girls" as a producer's assistant and then as a third assistant director.  Roxann is directing a web series for APTN for two of their upcoming full feature documentaries.  APTN will be soon releasing "Dream Big", and "Sex, Spirit, Strength" which she also worked on.

Roxann won the Canada Council of Arts competition and the Ontario Native Women's Association's 4th annual poetry contest.  She has also been working for Rezolution Pictures and Mohawk Princess Pictures.  Presently, her latest film "Legend of the Storm" is being filmed in Kahnawake. This is a dramatic short film about the Oka Crisis through the eyes of a child. The story focuses on what is happening within the home, internally, to the everyday child.  The film was inspired by the young people of today and Roxann felt it was important for her to give additional insight into the crisis rather than what they've already seen on You-Tube and in documentaries.  At the time of the crisis, Roxann was 6 and a half years old, so the perception of a child so young tells an interesting story.  The film doesn't only focus on Roxann's experiences during that time as a child.  It is a compilation of the stories from her peers wrapped into one film. It is a very much Mohawk made production.  The score for the movie is done by the very talented David R. Maracle of Tyendinega and has Mohawk actors and crew.

The actors include 9-year-old Noelani Rourke, daughter of Skasennio Shenandoah and Louie Rourke, from Ahkwesahsne.  Noelani has been taking acting lessons at Ottawa on a weekly basis and enjoys it very much.  Roxann said, "Noelani takes direction very well and is quite prepared.  Being such a pleasant child, she landed the lead role in this film as a young girl named Otsitsia. She is a bright young lady with a big future ahead of her. We are really excited to be working with her."

Another actor from Ahkwesahsne is Stacey Huff. She will be playing the part of a grandmother. Roxann said that Stacey played her role so well and blew them away in her audition because she knows the emotion intimately and really did a fantastic job to bring her character to life. Taylan Derochie-White, age 11, is playing the role of the older sister.  She was very comfortable in front of the camera and did a wonderful job in her audition as well. All the other actors are from Kahnawake.

To add to Noelani's piece in the article, she was interviewed to see what her feelings were on her new life experience.  "We go to Ottawa every Saturday for practice and learn about acting. When we practice our parts, we do it in front of each other."  I asked her "Do you think you would try to talk your friends into doing what you do?" After some thought she said, "Maybe I would...I'm not sure because when you miss a practice, you have to do two classes. I would let my friends decide because they might want to do other things," said Noelani.  She also said her mom helps her the most but others take turns to bring her to her classes. Noelani really enjoys singing as her second interest.  Even her mother said she sings quite well. Noelani added, "I usually sing every day because I like to do that. I stand tall and push my shoulders back so I can push my voice out."      

Roxann will be filming in Kahnawake this month and hoping her film will play in all the film festivals nationwide. It is also funded and represented by the Canada Council for the Arts.  When she decided to pitch her film "Legend of the Storm" to a producer, she set up a meeting with Tracey Deer. She was happy with it and hired her to work on season one of  "Mohawk Girls".  Tracey explained to Roxann that you have to work very hard in this business and she felt Roxann should submit her film herself to the Canada Council of Arts as a director. Roxann submitted her 40-page application to the jury and crossed her fingers.  She wrote from the heart and did plenty of research. She was successful and Roxann felt that it was an amazing accomplishment and now knows the real work has just begun.

Congratulations Roxann for all your hard work and gained success.  I will keep in touch and hope to someday meet you as well to watch your films.  Niawen for including actors from Ahkwesahsne and for making positive experiences for them.  Ahkwesahsne is proud of you!             Niawen, Sesi