Tales from the Rez: New horror-humour anthology series from director Trevor Solway mines Blackfoot ghost stories
Just in time for Halloween thrills and chills, Tales from the Rez has arrived on screens telling scary stories that might ring a bell for anyone who grew up in Siksika.
That's where the show's creator, Trevor Solway, grew up and still lives and works. Five years ago, Solway and producer Colin Van Loon hatched a pitch for an anthology series that blended the Blackfoot ghost stories he learned from his grandparents and aunts and uncles growing up in Siksika.
"It was born out of The Napi Collective, this film collective I run in Siksika, where I develop young filmmakers," Solway said.
Trevor Solway (R) created Tales From the Rez from Blackfoot ghost stories he was told by his grandparents and aunts and uncles (Photo: Nicola Pender PR)
"When I was a kid growing up, I loved films like Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark and Tales from the Crypt," Solway said, "and I just remember being glued to my grandma's TV and all my cousins, we'd stay up late watching these shows and then in that same time frame, we could go visit our grandparents or uncles or aunts and eavesdrop at the kitchen table and hear them talking about ghost stories that happened around the community.
"We'd kind of hear the gossip I guess – so I was just marrying those two things: the already-established horror anthology genre and native spirituality and superstition."
Armed with an idea and a short proof of concept, Solway and Van Loon pitched the idea of a horror-humour anthology set in Siksika at ImagineNATIVE, the world's largest Indigenous film festival, which is currently on in Toronto (where Van Loon and Solway debuted the show at a Friday screening).
Producer Van Loon said they didn't win, but the more they talked about it, the more energized they became.
"Pitching live is really nerve-wracking, but the flip side of the coin is that it was really fuel for us. Even though we didn't win – if there was Mr. or Mrs. Congeniality, we would have got that prize – we got a boost from the audience and it gave us the fuel to keep developing the project," Van Loon said.
Tales from the Rez creator Trevor Solway and producer Colin Van Loon started the project at a live pitch competition at ImagiNATIV Film Festival in Toronto
The pandemic turned into a fertile period of developing a more in-depth vision of what the show, which is framed by narrator Uncle Randolph, who introduces each story and bookends it, might look and feel like.
Eventually, Indigenous Screen Fund provided the duo with a small development grant, and then APTN put out a call for web series ideas.
When it read Tales from the Rez, it licensed six episodes. (And just ordered a second season for APTN lumi, its streaming service.)
Tales from the Rez, now airing on APTN lumi (Photo: Nicola Pender PR)
"All the shows are separate, but I like when they watch all six together, because all the characters' journeys continue on in other episodes," Solway said. "Or, like the Halloween episode, there's an event that kind of triggers some circumstances or events, so like they carry on in different episodes and a prop will be seen throughout –to kind of build that cinematic universe of Blackfoot horror – and it's cool.
"They all have a similar look (too)," he adds. "It's a call back to 80s, 90s horror with these slashes of red light and yellows. We got really creative with the way we lit it with our camera team and our DP and just creating that continuity throughout all of them was really important."
The series features an all-star cast of Indigenous actors and was shot on Siksika and in surrounding communities using an Indigenous crew.
"We really feel lucky that the Alberta area has so many really great Indigenous actors, really great talent," Van Loon, who started out directing music videos by people like The Snotty Nosed Rez Kids, said. "I think half of the Indigenous actors you see in big Hollywood films, they come from Alberta so we felt really blessed that those people could come and support the project as well."
Tales from the Rez was shot in Siksika and surrounding communities. (Photo: Nicola Pender PR)
Solway who studied journalism at Mount Royal University and then independent Indigenous digital filmmaking (with classmate Van Loon) at Capilano University in Vancouver, is building a growing film community of young Indigenous filmmakers in Siksika.
And with Tales from the Rez, he's doing something else: giving Blackfoot culture and stories a popular culture close-up.
"That's what really cool about introducing Blackfoot identity and language and people into this genre of horror," Solway says. "So young native kids -- young Blackfoot kids -- can watch our show.
"It's really cool, and exciting, to see themselves and their language in it – in the fabric of the stories – and stories they probably heard growing up from their grandparents.
APTN lumi renewed Tales From the Rez for a second season (Photo: Nicola Pender PR)
"And we mix in a little bit of Blackfoot language throughout so I think it's gonna instill a lot of pride," he adds.
"When I was growing up, it wasn't cool to be Blackfoot and we were often made fun of for our accent and the way we dressed," he said. "Now, I've kind of – I guess I've made it cool!
"I do all these things for little Trev, you know?" he adds. "I never forget the little rez kids."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
NDP wants Liberals to scrap proposed election date change that could secure pensions for many MPs
The federal New Democrats want to amend the Liberal government's electoral reform legislation to scrap the proposal to push back the vote by a week and consequently secure pensions for dozens of MPs, CTV News has learned.
'I didn't think it was real': Oilers fans score free Game 4 tickets from stranger
There's always something to be happy about when the Edmonton Oilers are making good strides in the playoffs, but this is especially true for two lucky fans who were able to enjoy the sights and sounds of Game 4 — for free.
Aurora borealis returning to night skies across Canada this Friday: NOAA
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
Doug Ford suggests immigrants behind Jewish school shooting
Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested immigrants are to blame for the shooting of an empty Jewish school in Toronto over the weekend, despite police saying they have little information on the suspects.
Man stabbed in both legs with a machete in Times Square
A man was stabbed in both legs with a machete at New York's Times Square on Thursday afternoon, police said.
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.