TIFF 2020 premiered Sep 12 ‘The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America’
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Toronto, Sep 12: 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2020 premiered Sept 12 Michelle Latimer’s Documentary film ‘The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America’ at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Directed and screen-played by Latimer and adapted from Thomas King’s award-winning book and his 2012 study, ‘The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America’ explores the ongoing cultural colonization of Indigenous peoples in North America.
Through captivating assembling of techniques, including a voiceover by King, movie and archival footage, interviews, dance, visual arts, and traditional customs of plantation, tattooing, and hunting, Latimer brings to the fore Native Americans’ history of early colonization, traditions, language, and religion that had been suppressed by state institutions, which obstructs current generations’ pursuit of their history.
Latimer’s chose well-known figures like visual artist Kent Monkman and filmmaker Alethea Arnaquq-Baril as her subjects, along with hunters, community workers, and emerging film artists such as Nyla Innuksuk and her collaborators, who adapt genre devices to tell their own stories.
Apart from rejuvenating the cultural memory and awareness of North America’s native people, the film also takes direct aim at North America’s damaging and harmful notions of history and truth.
King claims we can no longer claim we were innocent or ignorant, making Inconvenient Indian one of the most essential films at this year’s Festival.
National Film Board of Canada is responsible for publicizing, distribution in Canada, and International Sales agents.
The casting of the film is Thomas King, the narrator.
A filmmaker, producer, and actor, Latimer holds a BFA in theatre performance and film studies from Concordia University. Her short films The Underground (14) and Nuuca (17) both screened at TIFF. Her other directorial credits include the television series Rise (17) and Trickster (20), and the documentaries ALIAS (13) and Inconvenient Indian (20). She is of Algonquin, Métis, and French heritage, from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (Maniwaki), Quebec, and grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario.