World premiere on octobre 5th 2017 at Festival du Nouveau Cinéma
Communication & Societies Award 2019 / MédiaFilms: Best documentary 2019
Prix IRIS - Québec Cinéma : Best documentary 2019
Innu Nikamu :
Resist
and
Sing
The origins and evolution of the Innu Nikamu Music and Aboriginal Arts Festival are intimately linked to the cultural and territorial roots of the Innu people and to the life of the Mani-Utenam Reserve community. In the 20th century, Notre-Dame boarding school in Mani-Utenam took Innu children away from their family, territory and culture, and was part of a government imposed residential school program that left an indelible scar on the community. At the school’s closing the buildings were demolished and buried in a field which was to become, a decade later in 1985, the site of Innu Nikamu.
Through the music which has accompanied the Innu people throughout their history, director Kevin Bacon Hervieux traces the fabulous story of the founders, musicians, artisans and collaborators who ignited the hope of a community in distress, and dared to believe that the re-appropriation of their culture and their language was not an impossible challenge.
“Innu Nikamu is also an opportunity to see friends you haven’t seen in a long time! When I meet them in the street, I say to them: “Ah damn you, you are not dead yet! Come! We are going to have a coffee, I am glad to see you again””
LENGTH
Innu Nikamu: Resist and Sing = 92 minutes
Innu Nikamu: the Great Tradition = 46 minutes
BROADCASTORS
DISTRIBUTOR
Director / Scriptwriter Kevin Bacon Hervieux
Editor Geoffrey Boulangé
Director of photography Philippe St-Gelais
Sound recordist Lynne Trépanier
Sound design Catherine Van Der Donckt
Mix Benoît Dame
Director assistant Jacinthe Beaudet
Traduction Jani Bellefleur-Kaltush
Producers Réginald Vollant, Ian Boyd
Executive producer Andrée-Anne Frenette