Short doc takes "7 minutes" to re-enact woman's escape from stalker
- Andréa Ledding | June 27, 2016
“7 Minutes” is one young woman’s story about how quick thinking led her to escape a stalker, re-enacted dramatically in film while she tells what happened in her own words — and it captured the Short Docs Award at the Yorkton Film Festival. A true story narrated by “Marie,” a newly-relocated post-secondary student to Saskatoon, captures an all-too common experience for many, noted producer Marilyn Poitras.
“To just know and have to accept that she’s not safe on her own, what it’s like to live like that,” Poitras explained. “The film is a story, and the story is what people want to hear...the story becomes “Marie’s” story and she trusted us with this story — to talk about what had happened to her, with the understanding hopefully this would get people brave enough to get talking about “well this is happening to me too” — which is exactly what’s happening.”
Poitras was brought on as producer with film director Tasha Hubbard, as the two began an exploration of how to make short films — ten minutes or under — through a process she described as a boot camp run by the National Screen Institute, in a competition in which four teams are selected.
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“They teach you all the skills you need to know. I went to producer camp, she went to director camp, and we got selected as one of the teams. They give you a little budget...and you get to talk to people,” noted Poitras. “We went in with the big picture idea of exploring the media objectification of Indigenous women.”
In the process, they were asked to continually refine their story’s pitch, something they saw as examining the portrayal of Indigenous women as being disposable commodities, until they arrived at “Marie’s” story, which Tasha had heard shared in a circle. “Marie” gave permission to use the story, and they re-enacted it with actress Darian Lonechild.
The film, not only titled as “7 Minutes” but that is also the running length, has met with acclaim from the Film Festival and viewers alike. The Yorkton Film Festival is billed as one of the oldest film festivals in North America, and Poitras noted there were many Indigenous film-makers there. One film-maker noted this is how she decolonizes. Poitras highly recommends it.
“It was amazing to see the entire community come together,” said Poitras. “Indigenous film-making is part of the mainstream now.”