Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square is flooded. Its infrastructure has merged with the local fauna; mature trees grow through cracks in the sidewalks and vines cover south-facing walls. People commute via canoe and grow vegetables on skyscraper roofs. Urban life is thriving.
Rooted in the realm of Indigenous futurism, Biidaaban: First Light is an interactive VR time-jump into a highly realistic—and radically different—Toronto of tomorrow. As users explore this altered city now reclaimed by nature, they must think about their place in history and ultimately their role in the future.
The town square is flooded. The infrastructure has merged with local flora and people commute via canoe. In this radically different future, urban life is thriving. Biidaaban: First Light illuminates how Indigenous languages can provide a framework for understanding our place in a reconciled version of Canada’s largest urban environment.
Language carries the knowledge of its speakers. Indigenous North American languages are radically different from European languages and embody sets of relationships to the land, to each other, and to time itself. But as Indigenous languages face the risk of disappearing, we risk losing what they have to teach us.
Rooted in Indigenous futurism, Biidaaban: First Light asks users to think about their place in history and their role in a possible future. As they move through a highly realistic future Toronto reclaimed by nature, they hear the languages of the place originally known as Tkaronto. Through gaze-based interactions, users engage with the written text of the Wendat, Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) and Anishinaabe (Ojibway) and gain insight into the complex thought systems of this land’s first peoples.
The VR environment was created using to-scale architectural models of Toronto’s Osgoode subway station and the buildings surrounding Nathan Phillips Square.
Lisa Jackson (Anishinaabe) is one of Canada’s most celebrated contemporary artists working in film and VR. In Biidaaban: First Light, Lisa joins forces with 3D artist Mathew Borrett to create a future for Canada’s largest urban centre from an Indigenous female perspective.
By Lisa Jackson, Mathew Borrett,
Jam3 and the National Film Board of Canada.
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
Creative Director and Story by
Lisa Jackson
3D Artist and Environment Design
Mathew Borrett
VR Designer and Developer
Jam3
Soundscape Design by
Fader Master Sound Studios
Thanksgiving Address adapted by
Jeremy Green
Thanksgiving Address spoken by
Jeremy Green
Kawennakon Bonnie Whitlow
Tehanenhrakhas Green
Tehahenteh
“Nayendamowin Mitigwaaking” by
Margaret Ann Noodin
Spoken by
Gabe Desrosiers
Wendat spoken by
Andrée Levesque
Wendat Translation
Craig Kopris
Digging Woman
Jeneen Frei Njootli
Digging Woman Shoot
Director of Photography
Vince Arvidson
AC/DIT
Paul Dombrovskis
Gaffer
Scot Proudfoot
Grip
Mike Southworth
Set Designer
Angelyne Martin
Assistants Set Decorator
Matthew Campbell
Cam Ziegler
Brett Lennan
Makeup/Hair/Wardrobe
Min-Jee Mowat
Colourist
David Tomiak
Online Editor
Ryan Mance
Jam3
Executive Creative Director
Pablo Vio
Creative Director
Dirk Van Ginkel
Associate Creative Director
Vinicius Araujo
Executive Producer
Media Ridha
Producer
Jason Legge
Technical Directors
Peter Altamirano
Production Coordinator
Erin Ray
Motion Artists
Cyrill Durigon
John Flores
Designer
Mike Lamont
Technical Artists
Shaun Larkin
Game Developers
Michael Phan
Luis Guajardo Diaz
Reuben Pereira
Animation
Juan Manuel Codó
National Film Board of Canada
Producers
Dana Dansereau & Rob McLaughlin
Executive Producer
Rob McLaughlin
Executive Director
Loc Dao
Creative Technologist
Vincent McCurley
Project Manager
Camille Fillion
Studio Administrator
Carla Jones
Production Coordinator
Jasmine Pullukatt
Director of Production and Operations
Janine Steele
Marketing Manager
Tammy Peddle
Marketing Coordinator
Stéphanie Quevillon
Thank you
Zoe Hopkins
Owennatekha
Noel Habel
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Gordon Cobb
Jon Ritchie
Michael Price
Kat Cizek
Anthony Wallace
Shaun Nakatsuru
Linda Maness
Biidaaban: First Light was created
in Toronto, on the traditional territories
of the Wendat, the Anishinaabeg,
Haudenosaunee, Métis and the
Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation,
as well as in Vancouver on the unceded
territory of the Coast Salish peoples,
including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm
(Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish),
Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh
(Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
“Nayendamowin Mitigwaaking/Woodland Liberty”
adapted from Weweni by Margaret Noodin.
Copyright © 2015 Wayne State University Press,
with the permission of Wayne State University Press.
Skymap provided by NASA/Goddard
Space Flight Center Scientific
Visualization Studio.
© 2018 National Film Board of Canada
