Canadian film aficionados will have yet another program to look forward to at the upcoming Berlinale, the inaugural special series “NATIVe – A Journey into Indigenous Cinema”. I spoke to Maryanne Redpath, the series' head curator, about her plans and intentions with this new major initiative that comes at a crucial time in Canadian indigenous relations.Jutta Brendemühl: You are curating “A Journey into Indigenous Cinema” in the country of Karl May*, where North American aboriginals are still called “Indians” and current children’s books show them living in teepees and igloos. Are you anxious about some of the discussions?
Maryanne Redpath: I love this question and if you don't mind I'll be quoting it here and there, both orally and in written form. With it you have touched upon an essence of what we are trying to do with the special series. This is indeed the country of Karl May, but not the only country in this world where as you say North American aboriginals are still called 'Indians' and many people still think that they live in igloos and teepees. When it comes to definitions, we find ourselves navigating through a bumpy terrain so we just do the best we can - in German as well as in English. Since we announced the project last May, there has been a lot of international and local interest in it, which has of course lead to intense discussions around direction, form and content. The truth is, it's work in progress, a journey in its essence and we do not know where it will lead. What we do know is how to make a festival, how to attract audiences, the press, attention, the market. We recognise and appreciate the rich diversity of Indigenous cinematic story telling and its relevance and importance both for national and international film industries and we will cast the Berlinale spotlight on this - as well as create a platform for key players of the worldwide Indigenous film industry to show their presence, air their views and discuss the past the present and the future, if they so wish.
JB: TIFF recently showed the media arts program Home on Native Land; Toronto’s Vtape & Aboriginal Curatorial Collective presented a cluster of Canadian and Australian aboriginal animations; the "urban" exhibition Beat Nation has been attracting large audiences in Vancouver and Toronto; Ottawa’s NAC is launching a Northern Scene Festival with a focus on aboriginal arts this spring. Can you let us in on some of the “Can Con” in your program and where you see it positioned in a global indigenous cinema as well as its “relevance beyond tribe and nation”?
MR: Let me mention the short film by Alanis Obomsawin, RICHARD CARDINAL - Cry from a Diary of A Metis Child. The film is not only made by one of the most influential figures of Indigenous film-making worldwide, it is also an incredibly strong document of the tragic suicide of a young man who suffered badly at having been taken away from his family and put through 28 homes and foster families, a black mark in Canada's history books. The issue of the stolen generations of Indigenous Canada can be compared with for example that of Aboriginal Australia, which indicates the film's relevance in an international context, 'beyond tribe and nation'. With the screening of this film we shall be addressing such issues and in particular allowing those present to air their views in the international arena which is the Berlinale.
JB: ...Obomsawin, who decades after RICHARD CARDINAL is in the spotlight with her quietly shaming Attawapiskat doc THE PEOPLE OF THE KATTAWAPISKAK RIVER (watch it here courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada). For your program this February, you are announcing the “milestones of indigenous filmmaking”. Now you find yourself presenting this new series in the middle of the storm that is Idle No More and the hunger strike of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence. How will you address this current framework of grassroots uprising?
MR: The 'Idle No More' movement as well as Chief Spence's hungerstrike are indications that there is still a lot of work to be done. We will show our solidarity with what is happening. We aim to acknowledge and highlight the past and the present - and possibly the future - within the Berlinale Indigenous cinema spotlight. Landrights movements, marginalistaion, the affects of colonialisation, 'language', the redefining of identity, lost and dying traditions and cultures, sustainability in the (post)modern world, assimiliation into post-colonial societies - are just some of the themes addressed directly or indirectly in the films which have been selected for the programme. Cinematically speaking, we also intrigued by the unique imagery, diversive story telling and weaving of stories across a wide range of genres to be seen in the films selected - and beyond. Limited screening capacity means we are far away from screening all of the films which we have considered and really love. The selection process has made us become more aware of the vast body of work which is 'Indigenous Cinema'.
JB: The Berlinale announced early on that NATIVe will be programmed by indigenous film experts. Why was that decision made?
MR: Thank goodness for our wonderful team of advisers who give us permission, encouragement and the backbone for this project. They help authenticise what we are doing - in form and in content - and they will all be present in Berlin in February to take part in the celebrations.
JB: NATIVe is not a one-off thematic or geographic focus as so often happens – where do you hope to take the program within the Berlinale over the next few years?
MR: The Berlinale aims first of all to carry through this as the pilot of the series. The future is unwritten but we are considering opening the festival doors to works by Indigenous film-makers from other regions - Asia, South America, Europe and Africa in the coming years - all big challenges as you can imagine. In doing so we aim to continue to increase awareness of the diverse spectrum of Indigenous cinematic story-telling and its relevance in the international arena. We are also planning to develop a film library, a canon of Indigenous cinema and to make film programmes or parts thereof available for other curators and venues around the world.
Maryanne Redpath is the director of the Generation section of the Berlin International Film Festival. She was born in New Zealand in 1957 and has been living and working in Berlin since 1985. During the 1980’s and early 1990’s, she worked as a multi-media performance artist, taught drama to handicapped people and to children and gave art lessons to Aboriginal children in Central Australia. In 1993 she began working as director’s assistant at the Berlinale Kinderfilmfest and in 2002 she became the co-director. In 2008, she was appointed head of the section now called Generation. Since 2004 she has been the official Berlinale Delegate for Australia and New Zealand. In 2011 Redpath became a voting member of the Asian Pacific Film Academy (APSA) and was also involved in setting up the inaugural Young Audience Award for the European Film Academy.
*More on Karl May's legacy here this spring in an interview with artist-filmmaker Kent Monkman about his next film.
Jutta Brendemühl, Goethe-Institut Toronto
