Canadian Women Film Directors Database
home search browse about contact français

Quick search by surname

The Embargo Project

Directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Zoe Hopkins, Lisa Jackson, Caroline Monnet, and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Canada, 2015 (72 minutes, colour, Anishinaabemowin / English / French / Inuktitut / Mohawk / Sámi)
Also known as "Bihttoš", "Entwined", "Intemperance", "Rebel", "Roberta", "Skyworld"
The Embargo Project
Image: © V tape

Film Description:
"An anthology of five short films by Canadian Indigenous women commissioned by imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. Participating in a collective process, each director created a film under restrictions imposed on them by their peers, to push each artist into new creative territory."
-- Art Gallery of Ontario (source)

Film Description:
"An anthology of five short films by Canadian Indigenous women. Participating in a collective process, each director created a film under restrictions imposed on them by their peers in order to push them into new creative territory.
Roberta / Directed by Caroline Monnet, 2015, Canada, 9 min, French with English subtitles / Housewife and grandmother Roberta struggles to fit into the conformist society she lives in and turns to amphetamines and booze to cure her boredom.
Skyworld / Directed by Zoe Leigh Hopkins, 2015, Canada, 18 min, English and Mohawk with English subtitles / A broken-hearted woman moves home to rebuild her life and give her young son roots through language and family.
Bihttoš / Directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, 2015, Canada, 14 min, English and Sami with English subtitles / An unconventional documentary that explores the complex relationship between a father and daughter. Using animation, re-enactments, and archival photos, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers delves into the dissolution of her parents' mythic love story and how it coloured her perception of love in her adult life.
Intemperance / Directed by Lisa Jackson, 2015, Canada, 10 min / In 1850, George Copway was the first Indian to publish a history of his nation, the Ojibway. Intemperance is a satire that brings to life a morally complex story of his people living in changing times.
Aviliaq (Entwined) / Directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, 2015, Canada, 15 min, Inukitut with English subtitles / Set in a 1950's Inuit community, Aviliaq tells the story of two Inuit lesbians struggling to stay together in a new world run by outsiders."
-- Winnipeg Film Group (source)


Film Credits (partial):
Written by: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Aviliaq: Entwined), Zoe Hopkins (Skyworld), Lisa Jackson (Intemperance), Caroline Monnet (Roberta), Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Bihttoš (Rebel))
Produced by: Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Catherine Chagnon, Danis Goulet, Erica Landrock, Lori Lozinski, Jennifer Millington
Cinematography: Qajaaq Ellsworth (Aviliaq: Entwined), Michael LeBlanc (Skyworld), Bob Aschmann (Intemperance), Stéphanie Weber Biron (Roberta), Oliver Millar (Bihttoš (Rebel))
Film Editing: Maureen Grant (Aviliaq: Entwined), Adam Locke-Norton (Intemperance), Aube Foglia (Roberta), Bridget Durnford (Bihttoš (Rebel))
Production Company: Violator Films, Unikkaat Studios, Swyworld Productions, Microclimat Films
(sources)

Notes about The Embargo Project

(sources)

Quote by the Director

"I had only learned about my dad's experiences a year and a half before we gathered for [The Embargo Project]. I was still digesting it and I was only beginning to deal with it. In being challenged to make a film like that, it was probably a necessary continuation of dealing with that part of my life, and reflecting on how it impacts my daily reality. [...] I immediately knew that that was the story I had to tell if I wanted to tell a story that would have the same sort of impact that Suckerfish or My Legacy had, and continue to have"
-- Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (source)

Bibliography for The Embargo Project

Journal Articles

Web Sites about The Embargo Project


home search browse about contact français