Eight acclaimed films from the National Film Board of Canada will be screened during next month's Calgary International Film Festival, including a documentary about the death of Colten Boushie.
The event, which runs from September 18 to 29, will be the first time that Edmonton filmmaker Tasha Hubbard's award-winning documentary nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up will be screened in Calgary.
The film has a look at the shooting death of Boushie on Gerald Stanley's rural property in 2016 and the ensuing battle in the Canadian justice system as well as Hubbard's reflection on her own adoption, a history of colonialism and a look at the future for Indigenous children in Canada.
CIFF will also feature the Western Canadian premiere of Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger, the story of an Indigenous boy born with a genetic muscular disorder who was forced to spend his early years in a Winnipeg hospital. When he was finally allowed to move home, a dispute between the federal and provincial government over costs prevented it and Jordan died, still in hospital, at six years old.
Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger is the 53rd film by Alanis Obomsawin and completes her seven-film cycle devoted to the rights of Indigenous children and peoples that began with The People of the Kattawapiskak River in 2012.
Three other NFB shorts will also be making their Western Canadian debuts at this year's CIFF, including Jason Young's Gun Killers, Chris Dainty's Shannon Amen and The Procession, a work by illustrator and graphic novel writer Pascal Blanchet and animator and filmmaker Rodolphe Saint-Gelais.
More information about 20th annual Calgary International Film Festival can be found online.
