The film festival will present six films on campus leading up to the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
The festival will take place from September 27 to 29, all films will start at 7 p.m. and will be shown on campus in the Ganong Hall Lecture Theatre. Attendees are required to wear masks.
All screenings are free of charge, however, freewill offerings are welcome and will be used to fund the UNB Saint John Indigenous Student Group.
After the films, there will be a conversation with people from the UNB community and beyond with lived experience. This conversation is meant to provide attendees with a forum where they can learn and reflect on truth, reconciliation, and justice.
Todd Ross, Indigenous advisor on UNB Saint John, emphasised how great the film festival is for everyone to challenge their ways of thinking and to look on how to create a positive relationship with Indigenous people and communities.
“It provides an opportunity to reflect on our collective responsibilities to live up to the spirit of the treaties and commitments as equal partners living side by side” says Ross.
For more information about the film festival, please contact the Lorenzo Society through email at lorenzo@unb.ca or by phone on 506-648-5782.
Film festival schedule
September 27
- Sitansisk: 21 minute documentary from 2009 that explores a Wolastok/Maliseet community of Sitansisk called “Festival of Lights.” The event is about hope for a brighter future for their people and culture.
- My name is Wolastoq: made this year, this film tells the story of the movement to celebrate and preserve Wolastoqui culture and identity, which includes the reclaiming of the original name of the Saint John River, the Wolastoq River. This film’s duration is 45 minutes.
September 28
- Red Chef Revival: this 11 minute episode from 2019 presents the host Shane Chartrand exploring the North Pacific Cannery on Canada’s West Coast and cooking a traditional seal meat stew.
- The Angry Inuk: documentary from 2016, directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. It follows a group of tech-savy Inuits that with their knowledge on social media and their sense of humour and justice, will usher a conversation on seal hunting and the need of a sustainable economy. The duration of the documentary is one hour and 25 minutes.
September 29
- Sisters and Brothers: three minute critique of Canada’s colonial history which draws parallels between the annihilation of the bison in the 1890s and the atrocious acts against Indigenous people by the residential school system.
- We were Children: This film contains disturbing content and discretion is advised. It is recommended for people older than 16. The 2012 film covers the impact of the residential school system through the eyes of two children. It shows main characters, Lyna and Glen enduring the suffering and abuse they went through after being taken away from their homes and how the effects of residential schools persist in their adult lives.
For more information about the films visit the Film Festival website.
