KAGAWONG—You are being invited by 4Elements Living Arts and the Billings Public Library to a film screening and talk with award-winning artist, actress, and filmmaker, Shirley Cheechoo. Ms. Cheechoo will be presenting her film, Moose River Crossing this Saturday evening, followed by a brief talk and question and answer session.
Shirley Cheechoo was born in Eastmain, Quebec City, on the eastern shores of James Bay. She is a multi-award winning filmmaker, and the first person from a First Nation to write, produce, direct and act in a feature-length dramatic film in Canada. Her films have screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and she has won numerous awards for both her own work, and for her contribution to arts practice throughout Ontario.
In 1984, Ms. Cheechoo founded Debajehmujig Theatre Group, now one of the foremost and respected independent Indigenous theatre companies in the world. In 2002, she founded the Weengushk Film Institute (WFI) in M’Chigeeng, a non-profit, artist-focused film and television training centre dedicated to unlocking the creative potential of Aboriginal youth and persons of diversity; Ms. Cheechoo currently serves as WFI’s Executive/Artistic Director.
This film screening and speaker series is part of a larger community project supported by four community partners, 4elements Living Arts, the Old Mill Heritage Centre, the Township of Billings, and the Billings Recreation Committee, and funded by Canada 150, Ontario 150, Celebrate Ontario, and the Ontario Arts Council.
Over the summer, the project will animate a cycling and walking trail with heritage plaques and permanent sculptures commissioned from Canadian artists, along with a series of community engagements and talks to teach about Indigenous and settler history of Billings, as part of the community ‘s response to calls by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.
The film screening event will take place at 7 pm at Norm’s Park, 1125 Lakeshore Road, in Kagawong, Ontario.
