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MAY 2012
FROM THE DESK OF MANON
With each new spring, a new beginning and May this year was a month worthy of its own highlights reel! First, we settled into our brand-new offices at 400 Atlantic, complete with a bright and open workspace plus a large conference room, which in future will also serve as a studio for young Wapikoni filmmakers. We then held our Annual General Meeting, which gave us the opportunity to look back on what we’ve accomplished since the unexpected loss of our Service Canada funding in 2011. Despite this bad news, Wapikoni mobile has landed squarely on its feet with its strength unshaken thanks to all the support we’ve received. As a result, our team has stepped up its energy like never before, especially with regard to funding. Our budget remains the same; we have even developed several new projects allowing us to diversify our work with First Nations youths and leading to new paid contracts for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal filmmakers working in teams of two. Chanouk Newashish and Louis Fontaine have just returned from Ontario, where they finished a film promoting the Aboriginal Student Links mentorship program for high school students. Iphigénie Marcoux Fortier, Karine Van Ameringen and Réal Junior Leblanc are now working on a video in Mingan, in partnership with Québec en Forme. And on May 13, a Wapikoni mobile studio-on-wheels began a new road trip with the Gaspé region as its first stop. At least ten stops are on the calendar this year. Wapikoni mobile has already received financial contributions from Nutashkuan and Pessamit for a return visit to these beautiful communities. Our thanks go to the Band Councils for enabling First Nations youths to continue showcasing their talents on the big screen. So there’s plenty of activity to make this a great spring!
I wish to take this opportunity to thank Pierre Laberge for his unswerving dedication towards Wapikoni mobile over a period of close to four years. To maximize the number of workshops we can give in First Nations communities, we have trimmed the team’s operating costs, which included eliminating the position of operations director. This was a step we took regretfully, but with Pierre’s full understanding and agreement. Thank you again, Pierre.
Manon Barbeau
WAPIKONI MOBILE COMES AWAY A WINNER AT CHANGEMAKERS!
Wapikoni mobile was thrilled to be named one of the winners of the two Community Prizes sponsored by the Donner Canadian Foundation as part of the Ashoka Changemakers Initiative!
The $2,500 prize was awarded under the category of “Inspiring Approaches to First Nations, Métis and Inuit Learning” following the result of voting open to the public from March 7 to 21, 2012.
The Wapikoni mobile team thanks all those who voted for its training workshops. Congratulations also to the other winners and all the participants in Changemakers!
The winning initiatives were honoured at a Summit held in Gatineau this past April 16-18. This event was attended by several Inuit and First Nations leaders as well as Aboriginal organizations working in the area of education.
A special thank you to Changemakers’ partners:
Ashoka Changemakers, Chagnon Foundation, Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, Counselling Foundation of Canada, Donner Canadian Foundation, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, First Nations Education Council, Girls Action Foundation, J. W. McConnell Family Foundation, Lawson Foundation, Mamow Sha-way-gi-kay-win: North South Partnership for Children, Margaret et Wallace McCain Family Foundation, Martin Aboriginal Education Foundation, Ontario Trillium Foundation, RBC Foundation, Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec, le Small Change Fund, Vancouver Foundation.
UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA’S MEDSHOW RAISES $16,500 FOR WAPIKONI MOBILE
A huge thank you goes to the medical students at the University of Ottawa for the $16,500 they collected this year through MedShow, a fundraising event which they organized this year on behalf of Wapikoni mobile.
MedShow, a longstanding tradition at the university’s Faculty of Medicine, is a creation designed and produced in its entirety by students.
This year’s show was a blend of music, dance and skits about the historical blunders of the medical profession, in keeping with the theme of “Medicine through the Ages.” A silent auction was also held as part of the event.
MedShow is a perennial favourite with faculty members and former students in the Faculty of Medicine and each year it attracts many of Ottawa’s physicians and surgeons, with their families in tow.
The show took place April 19, 20 and 21 at the Alumni Auditorium in the Jock Turcott Centre on the University of Ottawa campus. The funds raised by all activities went to support Wapikoni mobile.
You can visit MedShow’s website at: http://www.uottawamedshow.com/info.html
LAUNCH OF NOMAD MUSIC
On April 24, Nomad Music launched its website, a unique showcase for contemporary Aboriginal music: musiquenomade.com. This interactive and innovative website includes online profiles of Aboriginal musicians, video clips, songs for downloading free of charge, photos, a concert calendar, music tips and information about the Aboriginal communities and nations in Quebec. You’ll also be able to write to your favourite musicians.
What is Nomad Music?
Nomad Music is a mobile service designed to meet the career development needs of First Nations professional and semi-professional musicians. It allows them to make professional sound recordings and videos to assist them in getting their music out to the public. Closely related to Wapikoni mobile, Nomad Music is a studio-on-wheels that began making its own road trips in July 2011. Thanks to the work of its team members, it has already visited seven First Nations communities in Quebec.
Mentorship
The musicians who take part in the activities of Nomad Music will benefit from advice given by acclaimed professional musicians. Richard Séguin, Samian, DJ Horg and Sakay Ottawa share their visions of their craft in a section of the website devoted to an online forum for musicians, a unique meeting place for the sharing of ideas to get careers off to a promising start.
The beat goes on…with an all-new blend of songs
You’ll hear traditional Aboriginal music played with energy and style at Nomad Music. But it will showcase other genres as well, such as hip-hop, rock, electro, reggae, folk and pop, with lyrics in Atikamekw, Anishnabe (Algonquin) and Innu, among other languages. An eclectic menu with something for every taste!
Nomad music is an original creation of La Maison des cultures nomade, developed in close collaboration with Wapikoni mobile. The website musiquenomade.com was designed by Montreal-based Absolunet, with funding from the Canada Interactive Fund (CIF) of Canadian Heritage.
NUESTRA CASA GRANDE AND DON SEVERO DEL PUENTE ARE WINNERS AT THE 2011 ANACONDA AWARDS
As an initiative created in 2000, the Anaconda Awards promote film and video production by peoples of Indigenous and African descent extending from the Amazonia and Chaco regions of South America to the tropical forests of Latin America to the Caribbean.
More than 100 short films (fiction, documentary and animated) from 12 Latin American countries were entries in the sixth edition of the Awards. Only twelve of them came away with prizes; among the winners were Don Severo del Puente and Nuestra Casa Grande, produced by the CEFREC, the CAIB and Wapikoni mobile during workshops held in Bolivia in 2011.
The Anaconda Awards, for which the theme in 2011 was “The image of all peoples,” contribute to the recognition, promotion and respect of different cultures and support efforts to defend the rights of the Indigenous and Afro-descent populations in Latin America.
The 12 winning films were shown in many Indigenous and Afro-descent communities in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru. Local juries considered the realities being depicted in the films before putting them to a vote. The grand prize winner was El Oro o la vida, a film about community consultations and the mining industry in Central America. Congratulations to Guatemalan filmmaker Alvaro Revenga on winning top honours at the Anaconda Awards!
WAPIKONI MOBILE IN MIG’MAQ TERRITORY!
We’re proud to announce a first in Wapikoni’s eight years of operations! Our travelling studio will be visiting the Mig’maq community of Listuguj in the Gaspé region. The team, made up of Marco Luna, Louis Fontaine, Pohanna Pyne Feinberg and Jennifer Wysote, is looking forward to discovering what Listuguj participants have to say in images…
The trailer has a new driver, Jean-François Dumas. It will be just alongside the community’s Youth Centre from May 16 to June 9. Check back often with the Journal des escales at Wapikoni’s website to get the latest news.
FILMS BY WAPIKONI PARTICIPANTS ON THE BIG SCREEN AND ON TELEVISION
On March 26, 2012, filmmaker Marie-Pier (Meky) Ottawa of Manawan presented two of her short works, La Pellicule and La Tonsure, (both of which were produced by Wapikoni mobile) at the Joliette Cinérépertoire in the Lanaudière region. Her films were shown in the first half of a double bill with Présumé coupable by Vincent Garenq.
Marie-Pier (Meky) Ottawa studies visual arts at the Cégep de Trois-Rivières and is a Wapikoni mobile ‘regular.’ In 2009, she and Manon Barbeau visited South America to take part in a number of festivals and film conferences, where she showed two of her films.
Her visit to South America allowed her to create links with representatives from the Guarani Nation in Brazil and Paraguay and with filmmakers from the Mapuche Nation in the south of Chile.
In 2007, Marie-Pier made Elle et moi, which was widely seen at festivals around the world.
Ken Awashish of Opitciwan was similarly busy. His video, Opiticican, was chosen for the first part of a double bill on April 17 and 19 with Tcikitanaw, a documentary made by Anne Ardouin for Opitciwan Health Services.
Anne said that she selected the work by Ken Awashish because he is a drummer in Opitciwan, which is his own village, and his song speaks of the serenity the village holds for him.
Showings were held at Cégep de Drummondville, the Centre d’amitié autochtone de Lanaudière, and Kiuna’Institution (the First Nations post-secondary institution in Quebec) located in Odanak, in the presence of Anne Ardouin and Paul-Yves Weizineau of Opitciwan Health Services.
Lastly, APTN broadcast the following films: Nodin by Nodin Wawatie (May 3), The City by Abraham Côté (May 10) and Winter’s Wind by Trishia Hazelwood (May 17).
FEBRUARY 2012
February Newsletter 2012 in PDF
MANON’S MESSAGE
Ouf! Finally 2012! The year 2011 has been tumultuous for the Wapikoni! But after all, there is that adage; “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!” Despite the financial cut that could have been the death of the Wapikoni, we are still here, and stronger from the phenomenal support received during this critical period. Over 2000 signatures were on the petition handed to the government in support of the Wapikoni. Thanks to each of you who circulated this petition as well as gave your signature. Many thanks to all the First Nations who manifested their support; the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Mr. Shawn Atleo, the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, Mr. Ghislain Picard, the Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou / Eenou Isthchee), Mr. Matthew Coon Come, the Grand Chief of the Atikamekw Nation, Mrs. Eva Ottawa, the National Association of Friendship Centres, the Grand Chiefs of many nations and the Chiefs of many communities, the directors of Commissions and First Nations organizations, the interveners, and especially, the young participants of the Wapikoni and their families. To all of you who have shown encouragement and belief, thank you! This support, more than any other, has warmed our heart. It allowed us to weather the storm. If the Wapikoni team has withstood the shocks and found the energy to develop other projects that assure the continuity of projects with First Nations youth, it’s thanks to you. Seven stopovers to communities nevertheless took place in 2011 and others will happen this winter very soon thanks to Health Canada. Your generosity at the benefit will allow us to venture on an additional stopover this year. It allows for the team’s trip to a community, training for thirty or so youth, and the production of at least five of their films, and even more musical recordings. They are very grateful.
The wind is once again blowing in the right direction and various projects that assure the continuity of intervention and training with youth participants are taking shape. The youth from the communities visited by the Wapikoni Mobile have developed skills as filmmakers and musicians. These skills can now be put to the service of the communities and nearby towns. The Wapikoni wishes to establish procedures for facilitating their employment, and in the same stroke, assure their professional improvement. Quite a few are well on the right track: Kevin Papatie from Kitcicakik has submitted to Telefilm Canada his first script for a dialogued feature film, Abraham Cote from Kitzigan Zibi has furnished himself with the technical material necessary to be autonomous and direct his films. He is now teaching camera technique is an extracurricular program at the High School in his community. Chanouk Newashish and Gloria Coocoo, from Wemotaci are directing films about prevention for the Native Friendship Center of La Tuque that is now equipped with a production studio. Sacha Dube and Marie-Pier Ottawa, Real Junior Leblanc and Tshiuetin Vollant are directing newsflashes for the 8e Feu web site for Radio-Canada. The Wapikoni youth are beginning to harvest what they have sown through their hard work, determination and talent.
This month, the Wapikoni Mobile is meeting a new challenge; that is finding a new local office for its head office. We are dreaming of installing a studio that will allow First Nations Youth who are travelling through Montreal to continue improving and creating.
A happy year to all of you: collaborators and friends of the Wapikoni, a year tailored to your dreams. Thank you for sailing with us. It’s infinitely precious.
Manon Barbeau
FEEDBACK ON SAMIAN’S BENEFIT CONCERT
The entire Wapikoni Mobile team in extremely proud to announce that its very first benefit concert organized at the Club Soda last November 29th by Samian, the organization’s spokesperson, was a huge success and brought back more than 40 000$. This amount, which immensely exceeds expectations, will be dedicated to the continuation of Wapikoni Mobile’s activities with youth from First Nation communities.
A Show Rich in Feeling
The evening began with a VIP Happy Hour that brought together 200 people who participated in a silent auction of art pieces and many prestigious lots. As of the opening of the doors at 7 o’clock, the Club Soda was crammed for the show. Samian, accompanied by two traditional Anishnabeg dancers, gave his all to a warm and receptive audience. We have to say that he didn’t skimp on the choice of artists.
Anodajay, Sola, Elisapie Isaac, Richard Séguin and Loco Locass offered high-class performances, mixing styles, and reaching effervescence with the return of Kashtin, and its greatest successes.
The profits from ticket sales and individual donations collected during the event will allow the Wapikoni Mobile to add a stopover to its circuit and therefore to offer an audio-visual and musical workshop to approximately thirty youth.
For four weeks, these youth will enjoy and benefit from the studio on wheels and the attention of a team composed of an intervener, filmmaker mentors, and an Aboriginal coordinator.
The youth will be given the opportunity to work on five short films, which will then be screened for the community at the end of the stopover, put online at wapikoni.tv and distributed to national and international film festivals.
We warmly thank all the donors, the artists who generously participated in the performance, the artists who donated their works at the auction, all our sponsers, our partners, and the volunteers who made this first benefit concert a great success!
Samian, Anodajay, Loco Locass, Richard Séguin, Elisapie Isaac, Sola, Florent Vollant, Claude McKenzie and all the musicians.
Disques 7ième Ciel inc.
Marcel Barbeau
Robert Etcheverry
Armand Vaillancourt
Christine Sioui-Wawanoloath
Eruoma Awashish
Jacques Newashish
Yvette Froment
Anne-Marie Chagnon
La Caisse d’économie solidaire Desjardins
Kanuk
Orchestre Métropolitain
Encadrex
Hôtel-Musée des Premières Nations de Wendake
Apollo Traiteur
Fiducie Desjardins, R. Beauchamp
LIM
L’Iris Bleu
Théâtre de Quat’Sous
Le Paris Beurre
Crudessence
Ovarium
Centre d’entrainement L’Écurie
Fiducie Desjardins, R. Beauchamp
Les Productions Metishkueu
Les Productions Sphère Média Plus
Boucles et Flacons
Trucs et Truffes Chocolaterie
The National Film Board of Canada
THREE STOPOVERS THIS WINTER
The Wapikoni Mobile team is very happy to announce its caravan’s stopover in three communities over the course of the 2012 winter season: Manawan, Opitciwan and Uashat mak Mani-Utenam!
Whether they have envisioned their project yet or not, the youth from the communities are invited to meet our filmmakers and interveners. They can explore all the possibilities and potential of our mobile studio: screenwriting, directing, camera, photo, sound, editing, sound effects, acting and musical recording!
The Wapikoni Mobile will be in Manawan between February 10th and March 6th, in Opitciwan from March 2nd to March 27th, and in Uashat mak Mani-Utenam from March 9th to the 3rd of April.
We give many thanks to Health Canada, whose financial support has made possible stopovers to communities.
WAPIKONI AND CANADA WORLD YOUTH – A NEW PARTNERSHIP BEGINS
Last Januray 28th, two Wapikoni training instructors; Serge Bordeleau and Louis Fontaine, journeyed to Toronto to give an intensive workshop on angle shot techniques and interview recording to a group of ten indigenous youth from all regions of Canada.
Canada World Youth selected the participants for the International Internship for Young Aboriginals program CIDA-CWY. CWY has organized a total of ten internships including an international phase in Nicaragua, in Peru, and in Tanzania. The objective of these internships is to help young Indigenous women and men improve their skills so as to actively participate in international development, improve their employability and promote international development in Canada.
The youth will then journey in small groups to each of these three countries and will return in June. The instructors will conduct interviews with the youth before their departure and after their return. The images captured during their stay will be included in the production of various newsflashes about their experience abroad.
For more information on the project and register for next year, please visit the World Canada Youth website.
IN CHILI, FOR A SECOND YEAR WITH THE MAPUCHE
It’s summer vacation for the young school aged Mapuche from the communities of Malalhue and Llaguepulli. These are the communities where the Wapikoni Mobile is continuing, for a second year, the Mapuche cinema school.
This year, Melanie O’Bomsawin is the instructor that will assure the training with the assistance of Ariella Orbach, coordinator and initiator of the project. Guido Huaiquil, our precious partner from Mapuche TV will also be in the field. Moreover, thanks to Thora from HERRMANN’s collaboration, Associate Professor in the Geography department of the University of Montreal, the school will have a third workshop in the community of Curarrehue, which is a national natural reserve situated in the Andes on the border of Argentina. This workshop will study, among other subjects, the preservation of endangered animal species on this territory.
For more information on the Wapikoni Mobile stopovers in Mapuche communities, consult the Wapikoni website.
HAIR OF LIFE IN THE FIRST PART OF THE FILM MESNAK
As of February 17th, the film “Hair of life” by Real Junior Leblanc will be presented in the first part of each of Yves Sioui Durand’s feature film Mesnak.
Mesnak is a production of the Films de l’Isle and is distributed by K-Films America. The Montreal premier will take place on February 16th at the Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois and the film will be in theatres at the Ex-Centris, at the Cinema Beaubien as well as the Clap in Quebec City.
ARTICNET PROJECT – SECOND ROUND OF SESSIONS AT THE MARIE-VICTORIN COLLEGE WITH INUIT STUDENTS
The video training sessions with the Wapikoni Mobile have begun once again at the Marie-Victorin College with a new cohort of six Inuit youth from Nunavik. This project aims to allow Inuit students to complete their secondary studies and accede to a college education.
With their insertion in mind, the Wapikoni Mobile provides the youth a basic training in video production. The main objective this year is to collect life stories through video or written portraits. These portraits will be broadcast on the website of the project in 2012.
NOVEMBER 2011
November Newsletter 2011 in PDF
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First international launch: many thanks !…
Friday October 14th was the peak of the year, the launch of a selection of films directed by First Nation youth as part of a Festival du Nouveau Cinema event, which was celebrating its fortieth anniversary.
(…) We have had the pleasure of welcoming a delegation from Bolivia, with the Wapikoni filmmakers and representatives of CEFREC and Caib, our partners down south, representatives of Oxfam-Quebec who sponsors the training sessions and organizes the trip, and Frederic Julien, our trainer in Bolivia. It was a beautiful and emotional moment, to see them all gathered on the stage, First Nations from here, and from there: same struggle!
(…) Let us underline the devotion of our team who is out in the field, filmmaker mentors and coordinators alike, who represent the Wapikoni in the communities. Thanks to their work, participants gain confidence in themselves and in their projects.
Thanks to the small beehive of devoted trainers, interveners and coordinators in the field, both here and in South America, to Frederic, Benoit, Ariella, Andres, Marco and everyone else, and all those who, at the social headquarters, busied themselves in organizing the event!
The launch is always a rejuvenating event for the Wapikoni Mobile. (…) A meganormous thank you to all those who have contributed to Wapikoni Mobile’s success and continue to contribute and accompany its journey; you have all our acknowledgement and gratitude. Manon
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THE “DROITS ET LIBERTÉS 2011” AWARD!
The Wapikoni Mobile may has failed to convince Service Canada to renew its grant of half a million dollars, but it continues to persuade groups of its value.
The Wapikoni has won the “Droits et libertés 2011” awarded by the Commission on Human Rights and the rights of Youth in Quebec.
“Let’s say the timing is right, we are very pleased, of course”, welcomed Manon Barbeau.
“Every time, it’s like putting up giant pillars across the river. Right now, we get support from all sorts of ways, the solidarity of people and organizations is tuly comforting”.
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October 2011: Three new prizes at film festivals, in Canada and in France!
Réal Junior Leblanc was awarded the « Best Canadian Short Film » prize for his film Nanameshkueu at the Planet in Focus Film Festival in Toronto, which took place from October 12th to 16th, 2011. The festival is dedicated to environmental issues.
It was on Friday October 14th during the launch of a selection of films directed by First Nations youth, an event organized with the Festival du nouveau cinema, that A Zest for Life by Jeremie Vassiliou of Uashat mak Mali-Utenam won the audience award!
Sakay Ottawa won the youth prize given by the town hall of Nantes in France, for the Cine Alter’Natif for his film “Je commence à m’ennuyer”. Cine Alter’Natif is an Amerindian film festival organized by the De la Plume à l’écran film festival, which, this year took place from September 30th to October 10th. Congratulations!
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CATHERINE BOIVIN IS BACK FROM FRANCE!
For another year again, the association De la Plume à l’Ecran has granted the Wapikoni Mobile a special session at its Cine Alter’Natif Film Festival. This year there were two sessions, since the festival occurred in both Nantes and Paris, in attendance was the producer Chickasaw Chad Burris.
The Cine Alter’Natif Film Festival, through a selection of feature and short films that are directed, written or produced by Amerindians, gives a voice to the Native American filmmaking industry and broadcasts the whole of its diversity. Watch the television show: http://www.telenantes.com/Divertissement/A-la-votre/2011/09/A-la-votre18
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A YOUNG FILMMAKER FROM UASHAT-MALIOTENAM AT AN INTERNATIONAL FORUM IN MONTEVIDEO!
From October 27th to 30th, Tshiuetin Vollant participated in the International “Memoria e identidad” Forum in Montevideo! The forum, which is supported by UNESCO, aims to promote memory and identity within various and diverse cultural communitites. Tshiuetin was accompanied by Marie-Genevieve Chabot, one of our filmmaker mentors until just recently.
The screening of the Wapikoni films was a hit! They were shown to more than 200 people!
The films that were presented during the forum were: The Amendment, I Remember, The Old Man and the River, Kokum Moves, Numbers, The Missing Child, We Are, In the Shadows, Lost Savages, Waseya Dizihin, and Earthquake.
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CHISASIBI INVITES THE WAPIKONI MOBILE PROJECT
From the team’s journal
It’s been only just over a week that the trailer has arrived in Chissasibi but it seems to us, like more than a month. We have made it hour temporary home, and we even sometimes forget that we will leave this place…
We’ve spent the first days letting the greatest number of people possible know about the project, of which a hundred or so youth! We were impressed by their interest and their receptivity to the Wapikoni films that were screened. We had an animation exercise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cx5qfGzQMs) with each of the groups, and we will present it at the final screening.
It took a few days for the kids to come and see us in our huge silver bullet of a van, but now that it’s done, they come in numbers, with great humour and plenty of projects. Many young artists had the opportunity to be on stage a few weeks ago during a concert organized by young Katimavik participants. « Chisasibi’s got talent ». Now, they come to see us to record their songs or make a videoclip…
The scope of the works in progress varies greatly. Melanie is filming a comedy on the stray dogs in the community, Every Dog Has a Story, while Willard addresses the issues surrounding the village’s relocation in his documentary Let’s Move. We are also preparing a dance video clip with the CreeArive Crew and a fictional project on love relationships and teenagerhood with the youth at the school. As we say, let’s get cracking!
We are already working towards the Grand Finale screening with Jodie House, our coordinator. We are looking forward to seeing the community’s reaction to this first experience Chisasibi 2011, but we are also a little bit anxious, and nervous. Luckily we still have a little bit of time left to organize…
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THE WAPIKONI MOBILE IS IN KAWAWACHIKAMACH
The Wapikoni caravan arrived in Shefferville by train this Friday night during a full blown snow storm, and after 16 hours of road and more than 24 hours on the train. For the first time, the caravan is set up in the community of Kawawachikamach, which is 16 km from Shefferville. The Wapikoni Mobile team was very warmly welcomed by this small Naskapi community. Two films are already in the making! This project plays host to people of all ages and from both communities of Kawawachikamach or Lac-John-Matimekush. All are welcome!
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A BOLIVIAN DELEGATION VISITS A WAPIKONI MOBILE STOPOVER
The Wapikoni Mobile’s film launch was an opportunity for a Bolivian delegation to come and visit us and show their films, as well as share their culture with their northern cousins. They were warmly welcomed and hosted in a traditional way by a fantastic family from Kitcisakik; cultural exchanges ensued. These initiatives contribute to bridge-building between cultures and correspond to the Wapikoni Mobile’s objectives of connecting native and non-native cultures alike.
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THE ARRIVAL OF THE MUSIQUE NOMADE PROJECT
Musique nomade wishes to offer professional services to musicians from native communities of Quebec who don’t have the resources at hand to make a quality musical recording. By going to different communities, the Musique nomade team hopes to bring a small boost that will spur musical careers to thrive and prosper, and be broadcast all over the world. The project on the whole resembles its cousin: the Wapikoni Mobile’s approach, which contributes to the broadcasting of the voices of peoples of First Nations of Quebec. Three communities have already been visited; Opitciwan, Uashat and Mani-Utenam as well as Manawan. More communities will soon be visited, of which Pessamit, Wemontaci, and Lac Simon. www.musiquenomade.com
(www.youtube.com/MusiqueNomade)
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AGENDA – November 2011
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19th and 20th of November: The Wapikoni unit will be at the Quebec Museum of Civilization on the Museum Esplanade.
Saturday & Sunday : 1pm to 4pm: Museum square. The theme: Liberties? Liberties! Liberty! The one we celebrate. Liberty? The one we question. The young filmmakers who are present will direct a short documentary on the theme of freedom
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SEPTEMBER 2011
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WAPIKONI MOBILE UPDATE- Manon Barbeau
Most of you are now aware that Wapikoni Mobile has gone through a tough time along with major changes. Indeed, the withdrawal of Service Canada (Human Resources Department), which stopped financing our basic activities has weakened our structure in a very dramatic way. Half of our annual budget thus vanished.
This financial contribution used to enable the mobile studios to travel through the First Nations communities. It also enabled different social work activities and skills trainings in digital technologies, film making and music recordings that were mainly beneficial to the First Nations youth… (read all in PDF)
Save the date: Wapikoni’s 1st International Launch!
October 14th 2011 from 6pm to 8pm at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema, at the agora of the Heart of Sciences of UQAM, 175 President Kennedy, Montreal
THREE awards at the First peoples’ festival, August 2011
The First Peoples’ Festival took place from August 2nd through 9th in Montreal. Three shorts were awarded prizes in the framework of this festival.
The Télé-Québec youth award was presented to Nodin Wawatie for his film Nodin. The Award for the best animation film was given to the film Setbacks by Delia Gunn. Réal Junior Leblanc received the Youth award for his film Nanameshkueu.
An Interview with Réal Junior Leblanc from Uashat-Maliotenam
Réal Junior Leblanc is an Innu poet from Uashat, on the North Coast. In Earthquake, he reads one of his poems, to which he has grafted images on double screens, in dreamlike echoes. The faces of his grandparents, of his children, the bark of trees, the moon, the waves, the conifers seen through a play of coloured juxtapositions, and artistic fuzz seem to reflect the narrator’s soul.
For Real Junior Leblanc, the cuts that are shaking the Wapikoni are a new way of cutting off native peoples’ speech. Another one. “The Youth so need to express themselves. Some of them would have, without a doubt, committed suicide without the Wapikoni. For the first time, they have felt alive through their films.”
Cine Nomad, the end of a journey of learning and creation in the mediteranean
Back in Montreal, bright-eyed, they speak of their individual and group experiences:
”The group was very dynamic and each person seemed to feel a sense of belonging. It grew stronger as time went by. A new family was created!”
”It was a very enriching experience, and it allowed us to see our culture, our values, and a vision of the world through a different lens, which strengthens our pride in being “native”.”
They also show us the four short films they directed and screen them for the staff of LOJIQ and the Wapikoni Mobile. Their films are very well received. Four masterpieces born from this month of training and creation, for viewing on our website: Films et musiques
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Abraham Cote has returned from « Partie(s) de Campagne », in France
Quebec being the special guest for the festival “Partie(s) de Campagne” organized by the Sceni Qua Non association. Travelling Distribution organized the trip for a group of Quebecer filmmakers, including the young Kitigan Zibi director Abraham Cote. The trip was financed by LOGIQ.
Abraham Cote : “France is a beautiful country. The hospitality was number one. The festival was great, the french really appreciate cinema with a passion and it is inspiring. People approached me after the screenings to say how much they enjoyed all the films. Educational, Raw and from the heart is how they were described. An experience I will never forget. Thank you Wapikoni for giving me this opportunity”
Read all news
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JUNE/JULY 2011.
Newsletter_June-July_2011
June 21st La Tuque Show for the 8th Fire
The Maison des cultures nomads, in collaboration with the Wapikoni mobile, is invited by the Native Friendship Centre of La Tuque to present the 8th Fire performance. This musical meeting between First Nations and New Quebecers will be presented in the framework of the centennial celebrations of the town of La Tuque on June 21st (National Day of First Nations) at 9:30 pm at the Centennial Plaza in La Tuque.
With Claude McKenzie, Sakay Ottawa, Shauit, Vox Sambou (of Nomadic Massive), Sonia Basile Martel, Laura Niquay, Louis Petiquay, Marc-André Dubé, Queen Ka and Sola.
Musicians : Patrick Boivin, Louis-Philippe Boivin and Pascal Ottawa
6 First Nation Youth of QuEbec leave for Training in France!
Jean Pierre Zacharie from Pessamit, Marie-Pier Ottawa and Sacha Dubé from Manawan, Nemnemis McKenzie from Matimekush, Ronny Wabanonik from Lac Simon and Billy Roy Mowatt from Kitcisakik, accompanied par la formatrice Anna Woch, participeront à la formation-échange:
CINÉ NOMADE, Cinematic practices workshop APATAPELA/WAPIKONI (France – Canada) with other youth from Marseille.
This workshop is a place of meeting, exchange and reflection about the fields of action and experimentation offered by cinema.
Many thanks to the OFQJ, which made possible the presence of six young directors at this workshop-production that will take place in Marseille with the Apatapela association.
Weekly newscasts will be available on the website during their whole journey! Follow-up on CINE NOMADE in the ciné nomade section!
FANTASIA
Earthquake by Réal Junior Leblanc, Glitch by Éric Papatie, Survivors: Last Chapter by Jimmy Neilan Clary and Setbacks by Délia Gunn were selected and will be and will be presented at the next edition of ”Le fantastique week-end du court métrage québécois” of the Fantasia Film Festival taking place on the 5th, 6th and 7th of August 2011 at the Hall Theatre of Concordia University!
A number of directors will be present! Come and support them!
RECENT EVENTS IN QUEBEC
June 2011: Discussions on the Wapikoni films with young deaf and mute youth from the Lucien Pagé school and an event in Gatineau: CRIC: Regional colloquium on citizen participation, 5th edition…
MAY 2011: Ruralia – St-Ailleurs-de-l’Avenir Village
Wapikoni Cinema screened its films at the St-Ailleurs-de-l’Avenir village on May 19th, 20th and 21st at the Desjardins complex in Montreal.
Throughout these 3 days, the life-size Wapikoni cinema screened films according to 3 themes: Land and Identity, Culture and Tradition, Youth and Fantasy, as well as a number of videoclips! (List of films screened)
Youth Forum in Abitibi-Témiscaming
Serge Bordeleau, trainer, presented the Wapikoni at the Youth Forum in Abitibi Témiscaming, on May 27th and 28th, in Rouyn-Noranda.
April_FRANCE – The Amendment at the Aboriginal days of Amnesty International!
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May newsletters
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MARCH 2011
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CULTURAL CONNECTION - One of Wapikoni Mobile’s objectives for 2011 is to have greater presence in Quebec cities which are in close proximity to native communities. It has already started during this week of anti-racism where Wapikoni will be present in the Val D’or CEGEP and in other diverse cities around Abitibi-Temiskaming next May, then in La Tuque in June.
Further news to follow in our monthly agendas!
LOOKING AT OTHER NATIVE COMMUNITIES IN QUEBEC AND IN CANADA - The Temiskaming community in Abitibi-Temiskaming has asked Wapikoni to present the project and some films to the community during its Envrionment Day, where the entire community is assembled. Further news to follow in our agenda!
This connection also took place in Vancouver where two Wapikoni directors met young natives from communities in British Columbia! See article on Vancouver.
A NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NETWORK – A new partnership was formed on February 22, 2011, between the Network for the native urban community strategy in Montreal and Wapikoni Mobile. This initiative will allow the youth from First Nations to direct films and to record their music, thanks to the mobile studio reaching them from urban areas, just like in their communities.
DAVE BEAUDIN AND CATHERINE BOIVIN BACK FROM VANCOUVER -
Click here for the link to the Radio-Canada Report on Wapikoni!
Message From Roger Lagassé, Program Director of Native Nations Education.
“We have been very pleased to welcome Dave “Majick“ Beaudin of Uashat-Malioténa and Catherine Boivin of Wemotaci in 13 of the 38 schools of the Francophone School Board [Conseil scolaire francophone] during the 17th Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois et francophones de Vancouver from February 21st to 25th. With constant smiles and energy, Dave and Catherine accepted the challenge of an intense tour. Their presentations were greatly appreciated by the students and the personnel. This tour in our schools allowed us to better meet the objectives of our plan to revamp Native education and, in particular, to encourage the readaptation to Native ancestry, to develop an increased appreciation of diverse Native cultures among Native and foreign-born Native students, and, finally, to give a base to welcome the contribution of Native communities and organizations in order to support Native Francophone students.
Thank you for having given us the opportunity to participate in your organization again this year. We hope to have the chance to participate again next year in order to offer all of our schools the opportunity to forge ties with Wapikoni Mobile! ”
Read all newsletter (in PDF with photos)
PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS
JANUARY 2011
Manon Barbeau’s message, Director and Founder of Wapikoni Mobile• • • In this new beginning of 2011, in the name of the Wapikoni Mobile crew, I would like to wish a brilliant year to the youth of First Nations of Quebec communities, under the auspicious sign of creation, realization, affirmation, recognition, confidence, and hope. To all our partners, both financial and on the ground, to the Band Councils of the numerous communities that we have visited, to our Board of Directors, to all those who support the Wapikoni Mobile and its participants, I wish you a year that does justice to our shared dreams: that 2011 helps us compose, collectively, a world of solidarity, that injustice, apathy and the fear of difference be abolished, that the cultural wealth of each person finds its place to express itself and thus contribute to the harmonious framework of the every day.
THE 2010 HIGHLIGHTS • • Wapikoni’s first winter stopovers • the first native assistant trainers • Kevin Papatie, Evelyne Papatie, Abraham Côté write their first full-length script for Téléfilm • Jani Bellefleur’s residence featured in a documentary for Films de l’Autre • the 28 youth present at the annual launching • the 42nd prize for the “wakopinian” youth film • the editing training at UQAM with Françoise Lavoie Pilote and 12 youth from their communities • the new mobile studio and its new equipment • new arrivals Tiphaine et Karine broadcasting and field coordination • Frédéric Julien and Marco Bentz, Wapikoni trainers leave for Bolivia and Peru for one year in collaboration with OXFAM and SUCO, CEFREC and RESTINGA • Wapikoni films at the cultural Olympics in Vancouver • a partnership with the suicide prevention symposium • the filming of the first Samian documentary begins • the first meeting with the Board of Governors • a Radio-Canada contract in collaboration with Terres en Vue for Chanouk Newashish, Kevin Paptie and Billy Mowatt • Shanghai’s universal expo where thousands of people discovered local First Nations’ films … as well as many others… Thank you everyone, financial partners, First Nations partners, participants and Wapikoni Mobile team for allowing these wonderful 2010 achievements. Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011!
Taking Flight• • Youri Mourog, admistrative director and Wapikoni Mobile pillar for the past 6 years, is leaving us to explore other sides of his great talent. Maryse Chantal Brazeau, already known and appreciated by the team, is taking over. Émilie Chabot is leaving Wapikoni Mobile after 2 glorious years of feats in finance. Cassandre Perusse, multilingual and HEC graduate, will step in to take her place. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to both of them and good luck!
A First Nations Recrute • • Kathia Rock, actress, Innu singer and woman of many talents, is interning at Wapikoni and at Maison des cultures nomades (MCN) with the goal of starting her own artists’ centre. It’s a priviledge and an honour to have her with us!
In 2010, 15 directors participated in events and festivals. 13 events of which were in Quebec and 8 throughout the world! To know more about the journeys of Évelyne Papatie, Kevin Papatie, Claudie Ottawa, Mélissa Bacon, Marie-Kristine Petiquay, Mikon Niquay-Ottawa, Kris Happyjack-McKenzi, Jimmy Neilan Clary, Chanouk Newashish, Jacques Newashish et Jani Bellefleur, Billy Mowatt, Marie-Pier Ottawa, Samian et Abraham Cote, visit the section Voyage des cineastes in RAYONNEMENT Read all newsletter
Click here to read the JANUARY SCHEDULE!
WAPIKONI MOBILE UPDATE
Most of you are now aware that Wapikoni Mobile has gone through a tough time along with major changes. Indeed, the withdrawal of Service Canada (Human Resources Department), which stopped financing our basic activities has weakened our structure in a very dramatic way. Half of our annual budget thus vanished.
This financial contribution used to enable the mobile studios to travel through the Fist Nations communities. It also enabled different social work activities and skills trainings in digital technologies, film making and music recordings that were mainly beneficial to the First Nations youth.
