Free streaming of Thérèse Ottawa’s Red Path at NFB.ca, starting Aug. 4. NFB short received two special mentions at last year’s Festival Présence autochtone/Montreal First Peoples Festival.
PRESS RELEASE
27/07/2016
July 27, 2016 – Montréal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
As the Festival Présence autochtone/Montreal First Peoples Festival kicks off its new season, one of the National Film Board of Canada’s hits from the 2015 edition will premiere at NFB.ca, with Atikamekw filmmaker Thérèse Ottawa’s acclaimed short Red Path (Le chemin rouge) debuting online August 4.
Recipient of special mentions in the Best Short Film and Télé-Québec Best Choice Award categories during its world premiere at Présence autochtone, Ottawa’s 15-minute film offers an intimate look at the moving journey of Tony Chachai, a young Atikamekw man. His road to redemption—which begins with a promise to his dying mother—leads to a return to his roots and the passing on of his community’s cultural practices, culminating with him dancing in a powwow alongside his cousin, Ronny Chachai.
Red Path was produced as part of the first edition of Tremplin NIKANIK, a competition for francophone First Nations filmmakers in Quebec organized by the NFB in partnership with APTN. Johanne Bergeron is NFB producer.
This year, the 2016 Présence autochtone fest features five NFB Indigenous short films: Etlinisigu’niet (Bleed Down), directed by Jeff Barnaby (opening-night film); this river, directed by Katherena Vermette and Erika MacPherson (world premiere); Nimmikaage (She Dances for People), directed by Michelle Latimer; Sisters & Brothers, directed by Kent Monkman; as well as Nowhere Land, directed by Bonnie Ammaaq.
Quick Facts
Following its premiere at Présence autochtone, Red Path was featured at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, San Francisco’s American Indian Film Festival, Vancouver’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival as well as the Yorkton Film Festival, where it received the Golden Sheaf Award in the Multicultural category.
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Associated Links
Montreal First Peoples Festival
Tremplin NIKANIK (in French only)
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
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