Aboriginal Filmmakers to Interpret Health in First Nation Communities
CALGARY, ALBERTA—Five aboriginal filmmakers are being infused into an applied research project conducted by researchers at the Alberta College of Art + Design (ACAD) and Keyano College investigating First Nation perspectives on health and wellness in Alberta.
The project, called Good Medicine: First Nation Perspectives on Health and Wellness, is funded by the Association of Colleges and Technical Institutes (AACTI), Health Canada First Nation Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB), ACAD, and Keyano College, and will commission five independent Aboriginal filmmakers to each produce one short six-minute documentary that explores what constitutes a healthy First Nation Albertan community.
Each Aboriginal filmmaker will receive $5,000, use of high definition video production and editing equipment, and an artist residency at the Banff Centre New Media Institute. Once complete, all five films will be compiled into one feature length documentary.
While researchers at the two institutions are identifying questions and issues about health and wellness, the filmmakers will document how these issues play out in a variety of communities and contexts.
Mitch Kern, Head of Photography, ACAD, and Roger Nason, Manager, Applied Research & Government, Keyano College, are co-investigators on the project. Freelance Producer and Project Manager, Kurtis Lesick, and two advisors from Keyaono College, Leo Jacobs, Chair of Aboriginal Education, and Garry Berteig, Art Faculty, also contributed to the project design.
“Health and wellness in a First Nation context is a complex issue,” says Kern. “As researchers we ask questions, and we want to get answers in as honest a way as possible. Supporting these five aboriginal filmmakers to document stories in First Nation communities from their own perspectives, will provide windows into that world.”
“In addition, we hope to support these emerging filmmakers as artists, and bring their work to a broader audience.”
The seeds of Good Medicine were born last fall when Kern was invited to participate in an Aboriginal Community of Practice roundtable discussion in Edmonton, Alberta, sponsored by AACTI.
Discussions led to the formation of an Aboriginal Community of Practice Working Group, to which Kern was appointed, where he began working with other individuals from institutions across the province interested in promoting First Nation community development.
The working group developed a series of successful projects engaging First Nation communities, but at the same time, some of the group members felt stifled, reluctant to make too many assumptions about how to have a positive impact. Kern was among them.
“That is when a sober conversation developed about what constitutes a healthy community in the first place,” Kern said.
In his mind, a question lingered. Given his own perspective, based upon his own unique experiences and education, how could he best assist the working group in their quest for greater understanding.
Having worked as a professor at two universities in the U.S. prior to coming to ACAD and through his ongoing research on the impact of images on society, an idea began to take shape that would take Kern nearly a year to accomplish, to write a grant to commission a First Nation filmmaker to capture her or his own more complex contemporary views, unfiltered through the eyes of a dominant culture.
The project concept was further debated and dissected by Kern’s research team, and the decision was made to expand the project mandate from supporting one filmmaker to commissioning five.
“Having only one filmmaker representing what is a very diverse and geographically dispersed set of communities seemed problematic to us,” explains Project Manager, Kurtis Lesick. “Five voices begins to give a better insight into the complexity and scale of the health and wellness issue, and gives due recognition that different concerns are at the forefront of different communities.” Lesick also coined the project title ‘Good Medicine’.
“Wellness, as a concept in First Nation communities encapsulates much more than healthcare. We wanted to get away from the typical assumptions that override the treatment of this issue, and open the question up to the filmmakers about what health and wellness can really include.”
“As such, each filmmaker will control the concept and vision of their own film,” adds Kern. “They will be asked to engage in some way with health and wellness, but from their own perspective.”
For more information visit http://www.goodmedicine.acadnet.ca/project