Screening times:
Saturday, May 23, 8:30 PM
Alanis Obomsawin | 1993 | Canada | 119m
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 that would grab international headlines and sear itself into the Canadian consciousness. 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. Recounting how she began the film, Obomsawin says: “I was working on another film, I was driving my car. I was on my way to the Film Board, and I hear on CBC news: a shoot out in Kanehsatake. You could hear the sound of the guns, so I went straight there… By the time I got there in Oka, you weren’t allowed to go into the village and the police had a barricade there, and that was it. So I went back to the Film Board and I said: I’m changing my production I got to go and document this.”
Released in 1993, this landmark documentary has been seen around the world, winning over a dozen international awards. Jesse Wente, founding director of the Indigenous Screen Office and chair of the board of the Canada Council for the Arts stated that: “The film marked a watershed moment in the history of Indigenous cinema.” Without Kanehsatake “it’s hard to imagine the understanding Canadians would have of what happened there.”
“Obomsawin moves from the pines to the streets with an elegance that sweeps us up in the frenetic movements of the crisis. She and her camera never waver as troops move in. By standing resolute as a witness to history, the invasion becomes palpable and dire.” - B. Panther, Paste Magazine
“Like so much of Obomsawin’s work, Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance gave voice to those often seen as secondary characters in Canada’s portrayal of itself.“ -Zoe Heaps, Tennant The Walrus
Winner: Distinguished Documentary Achievement - International Documentary Association, 1993
Winner: Award of Excellence for Best Editing - Atlantic Film Festival, 1993
Winner: Best Canadian Feature - Toronto International Film Festival, 1993
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