The 2015 Tewatero:rok Native Student Film Festival

Young artists, actors, producers and directors gathered last week to showcase their talent and to gather some interest in pursuing a career in the performing arts.

The Tewatero:rok Native Student Film Festival was held last Friday June 12 at the Galaxy Theatre in Cornwall.

Students from the Akwesasne Freedom School, the Akwesasne Mohawk Board of Education Skawatsira Program, and Salmon River Central School have all been busy recording, painting, editing, singing, writing and performing for everyone to see on the big screen.

The films ranged from Vaudeville comedy-type shorts to more serious Residential school survivor stories featuring testimonies from local former students of these schools.

Acclaimed singer Bear Fox made several appearances in the Film Festival and her music was featured in the form of music videos.

One such video was called "Spirit Fire" which showed a Native student wandering the halls looking for her native identity. Bear Fox is singing the song of the same name as that student is sitting alone in an auditorium. Another student comes up to her and takes her to that school's Mohawk class and the distraught student soon learns to "find her fire within and keep it burning."

That film was put together by Jaimee Lazore, Kiera Jacobs, Rain Hill and Kiara Swamp from the Salmon River Central Native Film Class.

Another video from that class was about the Native ironworker and how he is missed by his family and how they carry on without him when he goes to the city to work.

That family is played by Ryan Philips, Jonel Beauvais, Ieniehtisaks Arquette and Kiakowisonkies Philips. Students Geena Terrance and Kiakowisonkies Philips were the producers.

Another Bear Fox song was "Love Song," but her music was not the only one featured at the film festival. A song by Supaman was used and this won the competition for Best Music Video. It was called "Prayer Loop" and it had the same theme as "Spirit Fire"; a lost young man and his journey to find his cultural identity. Along the way he is tempted by drugs and ridiculed by gansta students, but he holds his course and finds what he is looking for. The production team was Lauren Perkins, Amaili Nalli and John White. The actors were Karonies Thompson, Grayson MacDonald, Nataanii Means, Mike Cliff, Onontokon Jock, Satekaronhioton Fox, Tehanikonrathe Brant and Rasentonkwa Tarbell.

Courtney Tarbell and Tsiotenhariio Herne put together a little video called "Tim Horthenhne" where after a hard cold day of ice fishing they head over to Tim Hortons to warm up for a double double. Bear Fox also did the music for this with her song "Double Double Ikere."

The Akwesasne Freedom School had a vaudeville type film where some students broke into the school, stole their equipment and the students efforts to retrieve those items included a Keystone Kops style chase through the school grounds. Eventually they get their equipment back and continue their singing and dancing.

The horrors of the residential schools were relived by local residents who told their stories and that film sent a silence through the Galaxy Theatre.

Other films were a documentary about Rites of Passage, The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) movement and how it affects local students, Food Chain, Akwesasne-What it Means to me, Plant Life, Sports and Baskets.

The prizes for the film competition were from Johnson O'Malley and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

Best music video - Prayer Loop

Best in show – Mohawk Movie

Best Mohawk video – Level 4 Mohawk Salmon River LGBT

Best documentary – Residential Schools