Ontario dominates media arts

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Ontario artists dominated the spotlight at an awards ceremony that wrapped up imagineNATIVE, a First Nations media arts festival in Toronto.

The festival, which ran Oct. 24 to 27, featured about 65 pieces of film, video, television, radio or multimedia work.

Six awards were handed out at the closing night reception, and Ontario artists won three of them.

Bonnie Devine captured the best experimental award for her first video called Rooster Rock. Elaine Bomberry was presented with the best radio program award. Shirley Cheechoo took top honors in the best drama award for her film dubbed Bearwalker.

Another Ontario resident, Pamela Matthews, received an honorable mention in the best drama category for her film titled Only The Devil Speaks Cree.

Devine co-produced her video with Rebecca Garrett. The story is based upon 80 drawings Devine made from her memories of living in Serpent River, located on the north shore of Lake Huron. Thousands of people went to the area when uranium was discovered at the tip of the Serpent River in 1953.

"The drawings that I made were about that experience," said Devine, an Ojibway. " They were about the experiences of the First Nations at the foot of the Serpent River that was used to have a sulphuric acid plant. They built the sulphuric acid plant right in the middle of the Serpent River in order to use that acid to refine uranium."

Devine's memories of that were about large yellow domes of powder. "It's a very striking visual image," she said. "I really think that formed me as an artist in many ways. My interest in shaped color comes from those images."

Rooster Rock was a mountain used for ceremonial purposes before the uranium was discovered. Devine added that area is now off limits due to the contamination still present.

As for Bomberry, she produced the Aboriginal Music Experience, a three-part radio documentary series on Aboriginal music. The first segment, for which she won her award, was titled Traditional Sounds, Traditional Voices.

"It's about reclaiming our songs as Indigenous people," said Bomberry, who has both Ojibway and Cayuga blood. "All around our people have suffered greatly in our colonization and we're reclaiming our voices in our songs. That's what this segment is about - protecting our music as well as whatever else there is left to protect."

Bomberry had worked in radio for eight years but never produced before. She was surprised with her award. "I was totally caught off guard," she said. "I didn't expect it at all. You see it on awards shows when people say they didn't expect it. Well, they really don't."

Bomberry added the recognition is gratifying. "For me I guess it means I'm doing the right thing," she added. "I'm bringing the voices out in a good light. And the acknowledgement can only help."

Cheechoo, a Cree who lives on Manitoulin Island, didn't attend the awards ceremony. Bearwalker is about life on a First Nation set in the late 1970s. The story details the activities of four sisters when one of them wakes up covered in blood and with her abusive partner in bed beside her; but he's dead.

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Matthews' film, about residential school experiences, also has a dark side to it.

"I believe, and a lot of other people believe, that is the root of a lot of problems that affect our people these days," said Matthews, who hails from the Sachiago Lake Cree Nation. "But we're not blaming anyone. We just want to move on and celebrate life even though it is a very dark story. There is physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse. Within all that darkness though there is humor. We have to move on because we're survivors."

Matthews' movie was the final piece of work she completed while attending film school at Toronto's Ryerson Polytechnic University. And she was obviously thrilled with her honorable mention award.

"The good thing about this is that these are all our peers and our friends and our colleagues." she said. "Most of us here have known each other for yers and years and years and years. So it's just such an honor to share this with everybody."

The imagineNATIVE festival screened all the works and held workshops that were free to all participants.

"The week was actually incredible," imagineNATIVE's executive producer Richard Hunter said.

"We had an amazing turnout all the way around. The workshops were packed. The theatres were packed. We couldn't be happier."