Getting to know one another through film

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Weaving through the heart of the Secwepemc territory, highway 97 passes by the typical Okanagan orchards, vineyards and resort hotels. This is a place tourists come to eat good food and have some fun.

On the section of road that leads from Vernon to Enderby, locals gathered at one lesser-known attraction-North America's largest drive-in movie screen.

A white expanse against a backdrop of low hills, the Starlight theatre is located on the Splats'in reserve. Dorothy Christian, the director of Indigenous Media Arts Group, isn't sure how the 50 by 120 foot-screen ended up on her reserve, but she knew what she wants to do with it.

The REDSKINS Drive Home festival was held here on the last weekend in April and screened the work of Indigenous film-makers from New Zealand, the United States and Canada.

"We [presented] a whole spectrum of film-documentary, feature film, experimental-and all work is being done by Indigenous people. Writing, producing, directing, and the technical end of things," said Christian.

"It is such a rare occasion for Native people to see themselves up on the screen. Our films are difficult to access. They are not in video stores, and they don't get theatrical releases."

A film-maker herself, Christian got into the industry to see more "beautiful brown faces on the screen," she said. Her own film, Indian and Who?, was shown at the festival.

"A lot of the people in the community don't understand what I do. Travelling to Mexico. Telling my stories," she said. But she realizes that when relatives mention seeing her work on television, it is their way of saying they are proud.

Many of the films shown at the festival dealt with the importance of family relationships, while touching on difficult childhood events.

"The creative process is a way to deal with those things in a healthy way," Christian explained. "A film can be used to rid yourself of an experience."

Director and writer Zoe Hopkins flew in for the screening of her work Prayer for a Good Day. It has also been shown at the Sundance Film Festival, and recounts the attempts of a daughter to support a troubled father. Describing the challenge of finding the balance between her own life stories and fiction, Hopkins said that people close to her sometimes can't make the distinction.

"I have to make the line solid for myself. Taking something real and flipping it around. Changing sexes, changing events."

Showing the life of a character or community, the films in the festival were often told through a broken sequence of time. The action is a mix of past and present. People appear in scenes after they have died. Hopkins explained that this reflects an Indigenous perspective.

"Time flips back and forth. It's indicative of a different way of thinking."

Prayer for a Good Day was shot in the West Coast community of Bella Bella.

A member of the Heiltsuk and Mohawk nations, Hopkins describes the complexity of returning to her birthplace as a film-maker.

"Sometimes it is difficult because I feel guilty showing up with a camera every single time. People want to visit me and know that I am not just there to work."

Hopkins can not recall seeing any First Nations films as a child, and this is part of why she thinks the REDSKINS Drive Home festival is an essential event.

"These little communities are so remote, but they all have satellite TV. If only they could see more of themselves, it might effect the rapid evolution of culture and create a stronger desire to hold onto things that are important."

Under a star-filled sky, surrounded by pick-up trucks and cars filled with children, the Okanagan film-maker Duane Marchand shared his perspective on the weekend.

"May as well get to know each other. Get to know ourselves through film."

His own work, N'Caqn So'ookanakanx I am Okanagan, celebrates the history and courage of his nation.

Broadcast over a local radio station, the film soundtrack reaches theaudience through their car stereo systems.

The fifth piece screened on Saturday night, Judy Manuel-Wilson's Stolen Spirits, included the narrative of residential school survivors. In a large field, friends and families viewed the intense images from the security of their individual cars. However, as the credits rolled, there was a chorus of car horns, creating a reassuring sense of community.

The REDSKINS Drive Home festival brought together a people who share, not only the Okanagan Valley, but the experiences of the past and the hopes for the future.

Dorothy Christian says that the festival was really for the young people.

"We talk about where we are going to be seven generations from now. I want us to walk with our heads held high and be proud."