Short films by Pabineau First Nation artists seeing festival screen time

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Two Pabineau First Nation artists have used their talents to illustrate short films focusing on Indigenous issues that have been screened at film festivals across the country.

“To see something I created in my small little studio have an impact on such a large scale, it’s makes me emotional. It’s a bit overwhelming,” said Phyllis Grant.

“It makes you realize that things are changing and that art matters.”

She and her son Christopher Grant each worked separately on a short film within the documentary titled I Place You Into the Fire, directed by Stephanie Joline, based on the poetry of Mi’kmaw poet Rebecca Thomas. Mi’kmaw illustrator Pauline Young also created a short film based on a poem titled One of Those Families as part of the documentary.

Thomas’s poetry speaks of the enduring effects of colonization and the struggles Indigenous people continue to face, according to a synopsis of the film.

The film won the Doc Atlantic Award 2023 and Best Short Documentary at the Silver Wave Film Festival 2023, and will be screened at upcoming festivals, both in its entirety and the short films on their own.

Grant illustrated the four-minute short film based on Thomas’s poem What Good Canadians Do, which she said focuses on day-to-day stereotypical things people consider Canadian.

“It kind of illustrates how we can go further in understanding more about our country,” she said. “It has a lot to do with reconciliation and how to find more tangible ways to create peace and harmony and create a real difference.”

She created each scene of the short film by illustrating what came to her mind as she read or listened to each line of the poem. Her illustrations were then brought to life by by Halifax-based animator Andrea Dorfman.

Christopher illustrated and animated a three-minute short film based on the poem Footnotes, which he called a “complicated poem” that talks about the history of colonization from the perspective of the Mi’kmaw people.

“It kind of goes into heavier topics but I found a way to animate it to make sure it doesn’t suck you into it too far,” he said. “It’s visually light-hearted, but the concept is very intense. I think it creates a really nice balance that’s real, but very kind in a way.”

Working on a project together was a “dream come true” for Grant, who said she relied on conversations with her son to get her bearings on the project as someone who usually works with more light-hearted subjects.

“He helped me not to take it so literally… and to express my feelings with lines and illustrations,” she said.

The pair attended the Charlottetown Film Festival last fall, where they sat with the audience and viewed the completed documentary for the first time together, nervously anticipating how it would be received by the audience.

“It was really powerful,” Grant said of seeing the finished product.

“Seeing it all together was a treat because we had that added context of Rebecca Thomas talking in the shorts and doing other poetry and things like that,” Christopher said, adding he feels the linework and colour helped to break up the storytelling, and added to the film.

After spending so much time on his individual part of the project, Christopher said it was also fun to see people’s reactions.

“We were talking about a perspective that could be seen as “alternate” so as an artist there’s always a natural tension before you put something out there because you really don’t know how people are going to react to certain things,” Christopher said.

The pair said it was a sigh of relief when people broke into applause when the film ended.

“I hope it creates a ripple effect where people create and talk and create and talk,” Christopher said of the film. “That, I find, is the most healing component of art like this… Everyone has a voice and when you put a piece like this out, it kind of inspires people to speak in a way.”

The full list of past and upcoming festival showings can be found at venndiagramfilms.com/projects.