First Peoples Festival

  • Mexican Documentary, Café, Wins Grand Prize at 25th First Peoples Festival

    Café, by Hatuey Viveros Lavielle

    The Mexican documentary, Café, by Hatuey Viveros Lavielle (pictured above), is the big winner of the 25th First Peoples Festival, winning both the Teueikan Grand Prize and the Best Sequences documentary Prize.  In Café, a family struggles after the death of the father and primary provider. Tere, the mother must now sell crafts to earn money. Jorge, her son is nearly finished with law school and must now decide to continue with his plans of leaving and starting a professional career, or to stay home and help out with the family.When his 16-year-old sister reveals that she is pregnant, she too must face new challenges.

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  • CIRCUS WITHOUT BORDERS to Open 2015 Montreal First Peoples Festival | TRAILER

    Circus Without Borders The film Circus Without Borders will open 2015 Montreal First Peoples Festival on Wednesday, July 29th. This 69 minutes documentary produced and directed by Susan Gray and Linda Matchan, tells the story of two circus companies, one in Nunavut, the other in Guinea-Conakry, have brought young people together from the ends of the earth to overcome the limits geography and history have set along their road to fulfilment. An invitation to go beyond. https://vimeo.com/124206024 CIRCUS WITHOUT BORDERS is a documentary about Guillaume Saladin and Yamoussa Bangoura, best friends and world-class acrobats from remote corners of the globe who share the same dream: To bring hope and change to their struggling communities through circus. Their dream unfolds in the Canadian Arctic and Guinea, West Africa, where they help Inuit and Guinean youth achieve unimaginable success while confronting suicide, poverty and despair. Seven years in the making, this tale of two circuses — Artcirq and Kalabante — is a culture-crossing performance piece that offers a portal into two remote communities, and an inspiring story of resilience and joy. The First Nations festival goes on until August 5th and will spread its wings at Place des Festivals: thrilling concerts, an exacting selection of films and videos, the great multicultural parade along Saint-Catherine Street and many indoor venue and gallery events.

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  • Le Dep by Sonia Bonspille-Boileau to Close 25th First Peoples Festival l TRAILER

    Le Dep by Sonia Bonspille-Boileau – North American premiere on August 5th, closing the 25th First Peoples Festival Le Dep, directed by Sonia Bonspille-Boileau will close the 25th edition of First Peoples Festival in Montreal, Canada. The film stars Eve Ringuette (a Jutra nominee for the film Mesnak) Marco Colin, Charles Buckell-Roberston, also in the Mesnak cast, and Yan England. One evening, in an Outaouais region Amerindian community, Lydia (Eve Ringuette) is just about to close her father’s convenience store where she occasionally works for the night. But an armed and masked individual suddenly bursts inside, and orders her to hand over the cash. However she recognizes the thief from his voice and eyes. Her subsequent decisions will have many consequences in her life. “The story takes place in an Aboriginal community, and exposes modern Aboriginal problems in Canada, but the emotions I wanted to convey and the characters I tried to create aim first and foremost to develop public awareness”. Sonia Bonspille-Boileau The film production received a grant from Telefilm Canada’s microbudget program. The producer and director will take part in workshops focusing on this type of production, as part of the professional workshops organized by First Peoples Festival. Le Dep, distributed by K-Films Amérique, will be released in Quebec on August 7th. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzwTbICOLPY

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