Native forum promotes films

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Zoe Leigh Hopkins loves being a filmmaker.

"This is the only thing I know how to do" exclaimed the 29-year-old Vancouverite who directed A Prayer for a Good Day. The short film was featured at the Native forum during the Sundance Film Festival held in Park City, Utah from Jan. 15 to 24.

Hopkins was among 40,000 people at the industry event that promotes the work of independent filmmakers around the world. It was her first time there.

"It's an opportunity for a lot of people to see some films that they wouldn't normally get a chance to see, and it gives voice to people who wouldn't have one there otherwise," said Hopkins.

"I think that as Aboriginal filmmakers, we are still developing our voice, so this world of filmmaking is relatively a new way of telling stories for Aboriginal people."

Shot in Six Nations in Ontario over a span of five days, A Prayer for a Good Day is a 15-minute drama about a young girl's attempts to make her depressed father happy.

"My first inspiration for the whole film was I wanted to make a film about a child giving their parent a gift. And the gift, in my film, is the gift of a junkyard. I wanted to show how one man's gift is another man's treasure," said Hopkins, who is of Heiltsuk and Mohawk lineage.

Originally submitted to the Screenwriters Lab at Sundance as support material for her feature script Cherry Blossoms, Hopkins decided to present the script for Prayer for a Good Day as a stand-alone piece at the suggestion of Bird Runningwater, the Native forum initiatives programmer.

"It had been so long since I've made a film of my own, I just really wanted to do that, so I made this film because I wanted to do it. Having it shown at the Sundance Film Festival was just beyond anything that I ever thought," said Hopkins. "My experience at the festival was amazing. I was just happy to be there. I think that experience is whatever you make it. If you are there to do business, there is certainly lots of business that can be done. I was just there to experience it and meet other film-makers and watch lots of movies, so I had a really good time."

The actor, producer, director and writer also teaches and mentors students at the Gulf Island Film and Television School.

"I started in this business as an actor when I was 15. I worked as an actor for a few years, which led me to want to work on the other side of the camera," said Hopkins.

"I really hope that in the next year, I can feel confident enough in myself as a director to be able to tackle Cherry Blossoms," said Hopkins.