CHOOSING & USING INDIGENOUS FILM
RESOURCES
WHY USE INDIGENOUS FILM IN THE CLASSROOM?
AUTHENTICITY
yield and give the floor to the Indigenous storyteller; facilitate by leading discussion
allow cast and crew to model pronunciation of place names, learn them together
support language revitalization efforts with Indigenous language films
cease to ask Indigenous students to be informants
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For centuries, cultural traditions had been passed from generation to generation through oral narrative storytelling but along the way, the advent of the printing press combined with social stratification, economics and politics enabled the favouring of certain voices and stories over others. Now, with the ubiquity of the Internet and accessibility of documentary filmmaking, these repressed and silenced stories can be told again and anew.
Film and text resources (textbooks, novels) can both perpetuate and interrupt colonizing worldviews. The role educators have to play in these processes is key. Educators contribute to the formation of individual and cultural biases for their learners.
Choose authentic and Indigenous-created films to increase accurate cultural representations of Indigenous and marginalized cultures. Choose Indigenous-created films to allow Indigenous Peoples their sovereign voices. Avoid speaking for others as an educator. Guide learners towards critical inquiry of common stereotypes and support the development of new narratives aligned with present and historical realities.
ABOUT THIS SITE
This site promotes the use of Indigenous film content as curricular resource. All linked websites and photos are available in the public domain. All efforts were made to credit directors, authors and photographers. References can also be found here.
The intended audiences are Indigenous and non-Indigenous teachers, teacher candidates and scholars. This website is by no means intended to be a definitive Internet guide to Indigenous film resources but instead intends to share some culturally responsible sources of Indigenous film content as well as share a sprinkling of potentially useful approaches to choosing and using Indigenous film content for classrooms.
The author of this page does not identify as Indigenous but aims wholeheartedly to act as an ally towards promoting, by way of classroom teaching, fair representations of Indigenous identities through materials curation. Links are active dated Sept. 2020.