M’CHIGEENG—It was impossible to miss the excitement in the voices of Weengushk Film Institute’s Shirley Cheechoo and Audrey Wemigwans as they made an unusual late evening contact with The Expositor. The duo were calling because there would be “a big announcement” made at the end of the graduation ceremonies taking place that weekend at the WFI building in M’Chigeeng. But they would not divulge the contents of the announcement, they were just making sure someone would be there.
The reason for the secrecy became clearer in the graduation ceremony’s final moments, as Ms. Cheechoo called students Brian Fowler and Isaac Kakegamic to the podium and informed them, along with those in attendance, that for the first time in WFI’s 15-year history, a student project had been selected for development by a production company. That project was ‘Raven Falls,’ a film treatment that contained a lot of personal relevance for both Mr. Fowler and Mr. Kakagemic and their late friend Joshua Yesno.
As the import of the announcement struck home, Mr. Kakegamic rushed back to a memorial table on display at the back of the WFI hall to grab a framed photograph of his best friend and collaborator on the project, the late Mr. Yesno. Mr. Kakegamic held the photograph throughout the accolades and statements, ensuring that his friend was part of the seminal accomplishment.
The announcement was the first the students had learned the news that their project had been picked up. To put the event in perspective, Shaftsbury Films receives around 30 to 40 pitches in a typical week.
“We put everything we had on the project in a big binder and sent it off,” recalled Mr. Kakegamic. “We didn’t think anything more about it, really.” It may be every student’s secret dream to have their work launch right out of the classroom and onto the screen, but that is a dream well tempered in the reality of the odds against this actually happening.
Like all WFI students, the trio developed the idea for the short film, bouncing ideas off each other late into the night. “We developed the idea, and it evolved, but we soon realized that there was so much more material than could be contained in a Lab 2 10-minute webisode,” laughed Mr. Kakegamic. “There was so much plot, so much story, that it was enough to fill several episodes.”
The premise of the story draws heavily on the young men’s own experiences. Two police detectives, who were from the First Nation community of ‘Raven Falls,’ return to investigate a murder. One of the officers has kept in touch with his culture, heritage and traditions while the other man, well, not so much. The story follows their experiences as they come back to a community that has changed so much since their youth, as have they, and they become strangers in a strange land, outcasts of a sort despite their personal connections to the community and the land.
As to what the future holds for the story and their role—that remains a mystery to the duo.
“You really know as much as we do right now,” laughed Mr. Fowler. “We heard about it the same time you did.”
Ms. Cheechoo recalled the reaction of the production house representative BAFTA Film Award winning producer and director Patrick Cassavetti. “Normally, we actually shoot the films,” she said. “This one we sent in a binder. The producer came in and looked through the binder and said ‘this is rally good stuff’ and it really just accelerated from there.”
“I’ve taught up there and they are a really good bunch of students,” said Mr. Cassavetti. “It was a real tragedy what happened to Joshua.”
As for the film project itself, Mr. Cassavetti was understandably cautious due to the early stage at which things are currently. “What I can say is it is an intriguing and important story developed by Indigenous students for a wider Indigenous audience and beyond,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to working with WFI and the students to see how things might possibly be developed for broadcast.
Shaftesbury Films is a creator and producer of original content for television and digital platforms, including 11 seasons of Murdoch Mysteries for CBC, UKTV and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment; the detective drama Frankie Drake for CBC; Houdini and Doyle for Sony Pictures Television, Corus Entertainment, ITV, and Fox; the thriller series Slasher for NBC Universal’s Chiller (now available on Netflix); and CBC Kids series The Moblees. Shaftesbury’s digital arm, Smokebomb Entertainment, “produces original digital, convergent and branded entertainment projects including the YouTube series and upcoming movie Carmilla”; the mystery series V Morgan Is Dead; fashion comedy series MsLabelled, produced in partnership with Shaw Media and Tetley Tea; the supernatural drama Inhuman Condition; and the Slasher VR app for iOS, Android, and Oculus Rift. In June 2014, Shaftesbury partnered with Youth Culture to launch shift2, a branded entertainment agency.
It appears that the sky is the limit for two aspiring young Anishinaabe filmmakers and Manitoulin Island can look forward to the days of ‘we knew them when.’
