25 years after its initial release, landmark NFB doc featured in FREE screening and discussion presented by Kontinónhstats – The Mohawk Language Custodian Association
(Kanehsatà:ke: 270 Years of Resistance. Photo credit: Shaney Komulainen)
June 13, 2018 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
Twenty-five years after its release, Alanis Obomsawin’s 1993 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) landmark feature documentary, Kanehsatà:ke: 270 Years of Resistance, will be screening for the first time in the Mohawk language, on June 21, 2018, at 1:30 p.m. at the Rotiwennakehte School, 407 St. Michel, in Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Territory.
This historic translation into Kanien’kéha is presented by the Kontinónhstats – The Mohawk Language Custodian Association, which is hosting the free premiere of the Kanien’kéha version of this award-winning film, translated by Kanerahtenhá:wi Hilda Nicholas.
This free screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Obomsawin, Wanda Gabriel, Judy Caldwell, Kenneth Deer and Isabelle St-Amand.
About the film
In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, set the stage for a historic confrontation. Director Alanis Obomsawin—at times with a small crew, at times alone—spent 78 days behind Kanien’kéhaka lines filming the armed standoff between protestors, the Quebec police and the Canadian army. Released in 1993, this landmark documentary has been seen around the world, winning over a dozen international awards and making history at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it became the first documentary ever to win the Best Canadian Feature award. Jesse Wente, Director of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office, has called it a “watershed film in the history of First Peoples cinema.”
About Alanis Obomsawin
A member of the Abenaki Nation, Alanis Obomsawin is one of Canada’s most distinguished filmmakers. In 2017, she completed her 50th film in the 50th year of a legendary filmmaking career at the NFB, during which she has devoted herself to chronicling the lives and concerns of First Nations people and exploring issues of importance to all.
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Associated Links
Kontinónhstats – The Mohawk Language Custodian Association
Rotiwennakehte School