February 15, 2017 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Steve Patry’s new feature-length documentary Waseskun, produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), will screen at the OFF Festival cinéma du monde de Sherbrooke on Thursday, February 23. The screening will take place at 7 p.m. at Salle le Tremplin with the director in attendance. Shot in an alternative detention centre run by Indigenous people for members of Indigenous communities, the film has just received two Canadian Screen Award nominations: the Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary award and Best Editing in a Feature Length Documentary (for editor Nathalie Lamoureux). Waseskun is produced by Nathalie Cloutier and Denis McCready with executive producer Colette Loumède.

Part of a series of planned screenings in various regions of Quebec, the Sherbrooke event follows on presentations in Trois-Rivières, the Côte-Nord and Rimouski. The film had its world premiere at the Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec and its theatrical release in Montreal, where screenings were added. For full details on the tour, click on this link.

About the film

While shooting his previous film, De prisons en prisons (nominated for a Jutra award for best feature documentary in 2015), Steve Patry discovered the Waseskun* Healing Center, an alternative detention centre that welcomed men from different Indigenous communities in Eastern Canada. In keeping with his filmmaking philosophy, Patry settled in at the centre for an extended period of time. Over the course of a year, he filmed three days per month on location, sharing the rhythms and regulations of day-to-day life for both those incarcerated and the attentive staff. This approach allowed Patry to earn the trust of the men, who—determined to overcome their challenges—freely and directly shared their thoughts with him. This closeness to his subjects has resulted in a remarkable film made in true cinéma vérité tradition. Each scene draws us into the unvarnished daily realities of life for these men as they struggle to overcome their own suffering and their pasts, to break the cycle of violence and achieve balance in their lives. As Waseskun staff member Glenda Mayo points out, those who hurt others have been hurt themselves.

*Waseskun is a Cree word that can be translated as “just after a storm, when the dark clouds begin to part, the blue sky appears, and the first rays of sunlight shine through.”

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Associated Links

OFF Festival cinéma du monde de Sherbrooke

Blogue ONF – Waseskun Projections

Waseskun