TIFF Announces Two New Canadian Films With Focus on Indigenous Culture and Community

Wednesday, 31 July 2019 15:40

Courtesy of Toronto International Film Festival

The TIFF is one of the most renowned and publicly attended films in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually from around the globe.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced two new Indigenous focused films that will be shown this September. The TIFF is one of the most renowned and publicly attended films in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually from around the globe.

In the lineup this year, among many other major films, are two exciting new feature films with a focus on Indigenous culture and community.

First off is a Jeff Barnaby directed zombie-thriller film which is centered around an Indigenous community. This is one of the first films of it's kind.

Jeff Barnaby, who is Mi'kmaq, is known for his other directive works such as "The Colony," or "Rhymes For Young Ghouls."

Along with Barnaby's film is the highly anticipated documentary from award winning Ellen Page.

The documentary, titled "There's Something in the Water," focuses on environmental racism in Nova Scotia and the many ways climate change is impacting Indigenous culture and communities. The film also takes special focus on the ways these issues are impacting women in these communities. This will be the debut of her documentary.

Page is originally from Halifax, although she currently lives in New York.

Page co-directed the documentary alongside Ian Daniel, her co-host of her last documentary series, titled "Gaycation,". The film focused on the many issues LGBTQ communities face around the world. The series was nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two GLAAD Media Awards.

In an interview on the Stephen Colbert Show in February, Page spoke about the issue of environmental racism. She said, "People, particularly the most marginalized people, (are the ones) in the world that had nothing to do with this (climate change). (They are) the ones that are suffering the most currently. That's including in Canada and the environmental racism that's happening in Canada. Including the province I'm from."

When asked to specify what environmental racism is, Page said "It (climate change) disproportionately affects people of colour. Whether it's the disproportionate amount of landfills placed next to communities of people of colour in Nova Scotia or whether it's about a pulp mill (in) Nova Scotia... it's been there forever and has destroyed the environment and the land of First Nations people."

In that same interview Page openly spoke out against Mike Pence's strongly anti-LGBTQ stances, particularly conversion therapy. This interview was widely talked about on social media with the video trending on Youtube for several days.

Due to Page's recent popularity in the media, her new documentary is expected to be a hit.

The Toronto International Film Festival will be taking place from September 5th to the 15th with tickets already available for purchase online.

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