"Unfixed and Infinite" part of growing Aboriginal film renaissance
- Andréa Ledding | March 28, 2016
Film-maker Danis Goulet, originally from La Ronge, joined Tasha Hubbard’s Honours English class at a special film night at the Broadway Theatre featuring Indigenous female film-makers. Entitled “Unfixed and Infinite,” the film night featured five shorts: two of Goulet’s features along with one she had produced, and two more from film-makers Elle-Maija Tailfeathers and Zoe Hopkins.
Goulet wrote “Wakenings”, a film about post-apocalyptic times featuring a female Wisakechak and a Wetigo figure, during the time of Idle No More when she witnessed a real awakening of the people, and an empowerment from young people in particular which inspired her.
“Wisakechak and Wetigo are the stories, and in that film they’re staging a comeback,” noted Goulet. “I wanted them coming together, with Wisakechak to free the Wetigo as a last resort.”
In her other short, “Barefoot,” she explores teen pregnancy in the north with a female high school student faking a pregnancy, and an ending she deliberately left as “a big question mark” without resolution.
“I grappled with the ending and changed it about three times during editing,” noted Goulet, who has never been to film school but learned from studying film and recommended other aspiring film-makers to do the same. “I was director of ImagineNative Film Festival and saw everything Indigenous film directors were making and for me that was the greatest education.”
She encouraged people to see as much as they can, as diverse as they can, adding there is a real renaissance in Aboriginal film and it’s growing every day.
“I think decolonization is the presence of an Indigenous person on the screen, period,” remarked Goulet. “Anyone who wants to endeavour to do this is going to come up against a hundred years of misrepresentation, and also under-representation on the screen, so there’s a big heavy history to contend with.”
She added with the stereotypes and misrepresentation it’s tempting to become a cheerleader but for her the key is finding the humanity of her characters and story, along with honesty. She also spoke about the classic western hero narrative being something she’s always wanted to subvert, versus the worldview that good and evil aren’t so polarized in Cree storytelling. She also added that she is currently programming on the TIFF short film board, submissions are open right now, and she invites people to get in touch with her via email or Facebook. “We would love to get more submissions from Saskatchewan.”
“I think telling our own stories is a really powerful thing,” she noted. “I think for anyone who just wants to do it there are many ways to learn.”