The Indigenous Film Summit has just wrapped up its 2020 virtual edition (August 24-27), followed by an engaged audience, including our contributor Sara Aloe.
Indigenous Film Summit is an annual event held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and was founded by Indigenous Filmmakers Association members Roger Boyer, Justina Neepin and Charlene Moore.
“Bringing together producers, directors, writers and actors for networking and collaborative purposes with hope to inspire next generations.”
This year’s 3rd edition turned virtual due to COVID-19. And exactly that gave me the chance to attend this amazing summit. The main idea of IFS is to bring together producers, directors, writers and actors for networking and collaborative purposes with hope to inspire next generations.
For me as an non-indigenous ally, I always choose to listen and learn; and I must say, this summit played a huge educational role. It was a privilege and pleasure to attend it.
Attending one of the talks gave me exposure on the influence of Tik Tok as a social media and its connecting indigenous youth and helping them build communities and learn more about their heritage in a light, modern way. What is interesting, it started as something humorous and for fun, but along the journey it turned into something educational for others. Also it is worth pointing out that Tik Tok is an interesting solution for people dreaming about making short films, but are lacking budget to do so. The app is like a ready to go starter pack.
I had the absolute pleasure of being given the insight on writers’ and producers’ journeys and the challenges on their way to achieving their aim. Also heard stories on what inspires them as creators, and what personal events influenced their work. For me as a person currently writing something of my very own, this was very inspiring and helpful in seeing the bigger picture on what am I working on for myself.
During the panel on diversity, representation and inclusion I heard a very important sentence by Effie T. Brown, that actually summed it up for me, “Don’t make me have to thank you and be grateful for some stuff that I should have already had.” Inclusion is the main factor that needs positive focus and can change a lot for the better if done right. Later on, the talk on self-care and wellness in the film industry exposed the emotional sphere of being in this field as an indigenous woman and what is needed to stay in balance and be able to give ones best when performing at work. We all have our journey, we are all in the journey of healing; and there are many different ways to work on that, form yoga, meditation and reading, to as pointed out by Shayla Stonechild, “There’s beauty in rock bottom, because there you learn who you wanna be.” Being able to look at yourself in the mirror and admitting that you don’t want to live in a certain way anymore. Simple but powerful and not so easy to do.
“One could feel support, warmth, joy caused by the successes of others.”
The summit just ended and I’m already looking forward to next year’s edition. There was a certain unique energy that one could feel while listening to the panelists, no matter which topic it would be on. One could feel support, warmth, joy caused by the successes of others. It was a priceless sight to see and unique vibe to feel. The event was online but still we were all together, as if in person. And the words that came up most often were: community and collaboration. Being united as a community is the key for achieving goals on an indigenous filmmaker’s path. And I support that with my whole heart.
If I caught your interest in this sphere of the film industry, you can check their website here: https://www.indigenousfilmsummit.com.
