Nanekawâsis

Nanekawâsis

CONOR MCNALLY | CANADA | 2024 | 80 MIN | ENGLISH + NĒHIYAWĒWIN EST

CONOR MCNALLY | CANADA | 2024 | 80 MIN | ENGLISH + NĒHIYAWĒWIN EST

DocumentaryIndigiqueerCOMPETITION

Synopsis

The work of Two-Spirit, nêhiyaw (Cree) artist George Littlechild took the reality of residential schools head-on decades before it would enter the collective Canadian conscience. A Sixties Scoop survivor, Littlechild uses his “whimsical,” improvised technique to unlock colourful exuberance and long-held trauma. Conor McNally, a Métis filmmaker, honours his journey. Littlechild was given his great grandfather’s name, nanekawâsis, at a Powwow in 2001. Both Littlechild and the eponymously named film embody its meaning: “swift child.” As we pay witness to a childhood shuffled between foster homes and Littlechild’s emergence as a fleet-fingered artist, the documentary makes fluid connections between past and present. Archival footage blends with warmly tinted 16mm interviews of 65-year-old Littlechild, still evolving in his practice, still passing on his deeply felt knowledge of his ancestry and “Rainbow” spirit. Whereas his partner, John Powell, uses art to govern his freewheeling tendencies, Littlechild harnesses paint to break free of his circumscribed daily life, healing himself and his audience through enlightened transcendence. nanekawâsis begins and ends with a sky full of colour, beautifully eliding time, revealing how light and dark, expectancy and reflection are all indispensable parts of life’s circle.

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

Conor McNally is a filmmaker and photographer based in amiskwaciy (Edmonton, Treaty 6). He has made numerous films to date, including, ôtênaw (2017) and IIKAAKIIMAAT (2019). His film Very Present (2020) was produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Conor is a proud father, backyard rink builder, and member of the Métis Nation of Alberta.

Cast

George Littlechild

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