Diverse voices and local stories come to life on NFB website
In August 1969, the village of Old Massett gathered to raise a totem pole — the first new pole on Haida Gwaii in nearly a century. Fifty years later, celebrated Haida carver Robert Davidson, who carved the pole, and his younger brother, Reg, who worked alongside him, reflected on this event in Now is the Time, a short documentary from young Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter, produced by the National Film Board of Canada studio in association with Knowledge Network.
An Official Selection at eight festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019 and Sundance Film Festival in 2020, Now is the Time will join the NFB’S free digital offerings next month. Thousands of NFB films are already available to stream online, including a dedicated collection of projects from Indigenous filmmakers casting light on the Indigenous reality in Canada.
For Auchter, the young filmmaker, the Massett inhabited by Robert Davidson and his contemporaries was very different to the place it has become.
“When I moved to Vancouver, I saw the great art of my ancestors,” Davidson explained in a statement published by the NFB. “(T)hen I came home and saw no art in the village, because we had been muted and outlawed from practising our ceremonies and way of life.
“I also sensed a feeling of sadness from the Elders, and I wanted to create a reason for them to celebrate one more time in a way they knew how.”
Previously presented from a settler perspective in a 1970 NFB film, This Was the Time, the pole raising is given new context by Auchler’s Now is the Time. With archival footage, animation and presentday interviews, including commentary from Haida scholar Barbara Wilson, Now is the Time tells the story of a community reconnecting with its culture.
John Christou, director of operations for the English program at the NFB, explained that a filmmaker coming from the community at the heart of their story will be capable of a deeper and more relevant exploration — and, ultimately, a better result.
“It really comes down to the fact that when you see a person, see a group of people, who are experiencing the story … it creates a connection on a different level,” he said, pointing out that in documentary filmmaking, audiences are required to bond with the people they see on screen.
It takes sensitivity to ensure that these bonds are never forged at the expense of a film’s subjects. Working with filmmakers who are representatives of their communities as well as observers is one way in which the NFB seeks to prevent harm. “When a documentary is made in a community, especially when the director is from that community, it’s not (an excavation),” said Christou.
Now is the Time is just one of several recent NFB titles that will be added to the organization’s digital platform next month. The following films will also be available to stream for free starting in June:
The Road Forward ,a musical documentary from Métis-dene writer and director Marie Clements. A 2017 Dreamspeakers International Film Festival award winner, The Road Forward also earned Clements the Best Director prize at the 2017 San Francisco American Indian Film Festival. With interviews and musical performances, the film draws poignant parallels between the origins of the Indian Nationalism movement in the 1930s and present-day First Nations activism.
Love, Scott chronicles three years in the life of gay musician Scott Jones, who was left paralyzed by a brutal attack. This featurelength documentary written, directed and narrated by Jones’s friend Laura Marie Wayne was an Official Selection at the Hot Docs and BFI Flare festivals in 2018.
Gun Killers follows retired blacksmiths John and Nancy Little and the secret work they do after dark. An Official Selection at Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma in 2019, this short documentary was written and directed by Jason Young.
I am Skylar, a short documentary about a 14-year-old trans girl from Cape Breton and the supportive family that surrounds her. Directed by Rachel Bower, I am Skylar was named Best Atlantic Short Documentary at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival.
These films, made by and for Canadians, were created to reflect our interests and experiences, Christou pointed out. It’s essential that Canadians have free access to NFB content: “It’s theirs,” he said.
Visit www.nfb.ca to discover a wealth of Canadian documentaries, films and animated movies.