Visiting Filmmaker: Alanis Obomsawin

“The term ‘living legend’ fails to give her proper credit. She is a living embodiment of the truth that colonization has not beaten us, that the genocide Indigenous children endured did not eradicate our cultures, and that the hopes and dreams of Indigenous people can be realized.”—Jason Ryle for the National Film Board of Canada

Alanis Obomsawin’s political life has always been inseparable from her creative life. With roots in music and activism, she got her start in filmmaking in 1967 when the National Film Board of Canada hired her as a consultant. Eventually she took the camera into her own hands and since then has created more than 50 films, each one a step toward building a more just existence for Indigenous peoples across North America. While Obomsawin consistently puts herself and her camera on the frontlines of the resistance of Indigenous/First Nations peoples to state repression and violence, her films also reflect the complexity and beauty of Indigenous life and her unwavering belief in the power of education.

The celebrated Abenaki filmmaker will join us on March 3 for a special presentation of Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance featuring a prescreening reception and postscreening Q&A.

Special thanks to the Consulate General of Canada in Detroit, our partner for the series.

IMAGE CAPTION 
Clockwise from top left: Alanis Obomsawin; Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance; Trick or Treaty?; Sigwan; Christmas at Moose Factory, images courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.