Short film presented by the CIAC MTL at CDEx, UQAM, 405 Saint-Catherine East Street (at the corner of Saint-Denis Street), Montreal, Room J-R940, August 11th and 16th 2019, 4:00 pm.
Dancer and fashion designer Tyler Jacobs asks us to tag along on their journey to reclaiming their Two-Spirit heritage and knowledge. Their film Walk with my Spirits (2018) is their first collaboration with Wapikoni.
Filmmakers Jazmine SMITH, Tyler JACOBS, Melissa MOLLEN DUPUIS and Jerilynn WEBSTER directed four movies, produced by WAPIKONI, about the testimonies of young Two-Spirit individuals.
Co-founded in 2003 by Manon Barbeau, the Council of the Atikamekw Nation Youth Council and the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, Wapikoni Mobile travels to Aboriginal communities providing workshops for First Nations youth that allow them to master digital tools by directing short films and musical works. During each stopover, “mentor filmmakers” welcome and train thirty young participants during all stages of implementation. Wapikoni’s mission is to fight isolation and suicide among First Nations youth with the development of artistic, technical, social, and professional skills, to broadcast films and to raise public awareness about First Nations issues while enhancing a rich culture, too often overlooked, and also to contribute to the preservation of First Nations cultural heritage.