An Indigenous post-secondary institution in Sault Ste. Marie has partnered with a non-profit film and television training centre on Manitoulin Island to launch a new certificate program in short film production.
On Wednesday, representatives from Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig (SKG) and Weengushk Film Institute were on hand to announce what’s known as the Lab 1 program, an eight-month course designed to provide both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students with hands-on training in filmmaking.
“Storytelling has always been central to who we are,” said Joanne Jones, cultural and land-based academic lead at SKG.
“It’s so fundamental to who we are as Indigenous people.”
Weengushk Film Institute vice-president Nano Debassige said the Lab 1 program takes students through the process of screenwriting, producing, directing, production and editing, in addition to marketing films through different modules in the course.
“It takes you through the entire process, start to finish, of how a film gets made and how a film gets sold, which is something that’s rarely ever tapped into,” Debassige told reporters following the announcement.
The new program in Sault Ste. Marie will see Weengushk bring in professionals that are currently working in the film industry to assist students, who will leave SKG with a resume of films they worked on over the duration of the program.
Elements of general arts and science courses filter into the film production and cinematography programming, which has allowed Weengushk to become accredited with Laurentian University.
“It’s not only specific to being in the film industry — it actually gives you the opportunity for success in life,” said Debassige.
Sault Ste. Marie native Nathan ‘Jonna’ Bouliane will serve as a student mentor on the campus of SKG after working in the film industry over the past decade.
“I take a hands-on approach,” Bouliane said.
“For myself, especially as a cinematographer, I think that it’s important to just get in there — learn the gear, touch the gear, play with it, you know?
“Theory is absolutely critical, but I do believe that just getting in there and having a malleable feel for what it is that we’re doing is the most important thing.”
Debassige said the programming allows for aspiring Indigenous filmmakers to not only enter the film industry, but become competitive within it.
"I think in recent years a lot of Indigenous stories have been diluted with the rise of what people are calling ‘pretendians’ sort of telling . . . watered down stories of Indigenous culture, Indigenous history,” he said.
“It’s important to put the tools into people who actually have that lived experience, rather than having a romanticized idea of the experience.”
The Lab 1 certificate program officially kicks off in Sault Ste. Marie on Sept. 22 and will run until July of next year.
Registration for the September cohort will open following today's announcement. More details will be made available at both shingwauku.org and weengushk.com.