Wapawekka at Sundance

Métis Filmmaker’s Second Trip to SundanceFlush from the Toronto International Film Festival’s showing of Wapawekka, Métis filmmaker Danis Goulet has brought the 16-minute short to the Sundance Film Festival, where it is screening several times this week.

The movie highlights the generational rift between a traditional Cree father and his urbanized, hip-hopping son during a trip to the family’s isolated cabin in northern Canada. The English portions are subtitled in Cree, and the Cree sections are subtitled in English.

Although Goulet is Métis and the characters are Cree, the film was based on her experiences growing up, the filmmaker told CBC News. Set in Saskatchewan, the film was shot at Lake Wapawekka, near where she was raised.Canadians go big at Sundance

Country has 6 feature films and 8 shorts at annual Utah festivalThe Canadian contingent also brings aboriginal stories to the screen at the popular Park City in the Midnight program. Among the filmmakers is Danis Goulet, whose short film Wapawekka is a personal exploration of native family life.

Other native directors with films at the festival are Helen Haig-Brown of B.C., whose movie The Cave is about a hunter who accidentally discovers a portal to the afterlife, and Choke by Michelle Latimer.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Sundance Incubates Native Film and 11 Native Films at Sundance.