TRUTHS BROUGHT INTO FOCUS
Indian Horse’s rich, lyrical quality
Stephen Campanelli had always vowed he would do another Montreal film festival. He just never thought it would take 33 years to fulfil that pledge.
Campanelli’s first directed film, From a Whisper to a Scream, was screened at the 1984 Festival des films du monde. The horror short had previously won a student competition at Concordia; the N.D.G. native graduated from the school with a degree in film studies the year before.
Campanelli, 58 and based in Los Angeles, is heading back home to present Indian Horse, being screened Wednesday and Friday at the 46th Festival du nouveau cinéma. An adaptation of Richard Wagamese’s awardwinning novel of the same name, this is a powerhouse and poignant offering that delves into this country’s shameful history of residential schools and recounts the story of eightyear-old Saul Indian Horse, who has been taken away from his Ojibwa family in the 1950s and is forced to fend for himself in the most oppressive of environments.
Though unable to speak his people’s language or embrace his heritage, Saul (played by three remarkable actors from childhood to adulthood) figures a way out of his dilemma. He takes up hockey and becomes so skilled that he is able to get away from his residential school. Sadly, there is an emotional cost that catches up to him.
Indian Horse spans more than two decades in Saul’s life. As unsettling as the story is, the visuals, particularly in the bush, are breathtaking. It’s no accident that the film has such a rich, lyrical quality.
Although he waited years to direct a feature — Indian Horse is just his second — Campanelli knows the craft of cinematography as well as anyone. He has been Clint Eastwood’s chief Steadicam operator for nearly 25 years. Campanelli has credits on such acclaimed Eastwood fare as Million Dollar Baby, The Bridges of Madison County, Mystic River, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, Gran Torino, Sully and American Sniper. The pair recently wrapped their 21st collaboration, The 15:17 to Paris, the true saga of three Americans forced to confront a terrorist aboard a train bound for Paris. The film is slated for a Christmas release.
Eastwood was so taken by a rough cut of Indian Horse Campanelli showed him six months ago that he came aboard the project as an executive producer.
“Clint just went: ‘Wow! Really powerful, really moving,’ ” Campanelli says. “He also found it shocking, because he was unaware of our residential schools. Then he asked how he could help. Well, having him on board as an executive producer will definitely help.”
The film will certainly shock a lot of other people, too.
“I think some people might suspect at the beginning of the film that they are going to see one of those Blind Side (rags to riches) tales set on a hockey rink instead of a football field,” Campanelli says.
Not quite. There is no sugarcoating this story. Regardless, audiences at festivals throughout Canada, including the Toronto International Film Festival, have been so stirred by Indian Horse that there have been standing ovations after every screening, and the film has picked up accolades along the way.
“I believe it’s such an important story that must be told. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. And it was certainly worth the wait.”
Campanelli made his feature-directing debut two years ago with the heart-pumping, grisly action thriller Momentum, which was shot in South Africa.
“I admit it’s a little late to start pursuing a career as a director at my age, but I can take heart from the fact that Clint also started late and really hit stride in his 50s. He’s 87 now, and he’s still at it,” Campanelli says. “So there is hope for me as a late bloomer.”
It was through renowned Québécois producer Roger Frappier that Campanelli was conscripted to direct Indian Horse. Frappier had been taken by Campanelli’s directing in Momentum. “He said he saw the value I brought to it, since its budget was just $5 million. He thought the budget was 10 times that.”
Frappier, also an exec producer on Indian Horse, arranged for Campanelli to get the Wagamese novel.
“After reading it, I was so angered, and ashamed for not really knowing the story of how more than 150,000 Indigenous children were displaced from their homes and how so many thousands died as a consequence. I also found it interesting how hockey, the great Canadian pastime, proved to be a metaphor for escape here. The only time Saul was free was when he was on the ice.
“So I wrote Frappier and the other producers an impassioned six-page email of why I needed to direct this movie and tell this story.”
Campanelli, who is accustomed to working on films with budgets in the US$100-million range, shot this one for just under $9 million Canadian in Sudbury and Peterborough. He drew inspired performances from his young actors, especially neophyte Sladen Peltier as eightyear-old Saul.
“Sladen had never been on a film set. He had never even been in a school play before. He had no acting experience at all. But he was a hockey player and he wanted to try out for the role after seeing an audition poster at a Toronto rink. So I cast him out of 500 kids I auditioned throughout North America, and he proved to be such a natural.”
He also lucked out in the casting of the teenaged Saul with Forrest Goodluck, who played Leonardo DiCaprio’s son in the Oscar-winning The Revenant.
Campanelli now has his sights set on Indian Horse making its U.S. debut at the Sundance film fest in January. It is slated for theatrical release throughout North America in April.
“Ultimately, our goal is that the film be used as an educational tool. The book is now part of the Grade 10 curriculum across Canada, so we would like teachers to have their students read the book, then see the film. It’s a story students won’t soon forget.”
There will be Q&As following the festival screenings here.
“People always have a lot of questions about the movie,” Campanelli says. “And I always get this big question: ‘Why is a non-Indigenous person directing this story?’
“My answer always is: ‘This is, above all, a human story, and I’m telling it as truthfully as I can.’ ”
I believe it’s such an important story that must be told. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.