Canadian Women Film Directors Database
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Quote:
"When I was a young girl, my community didn't have electricity or running water, and we had an earth road. I don't say dirt road, that's an insult to my Mother—the Earth is not dirty, it gives you everything. We had oil lamps. At night, we were in the kitchen, the adults were fishing and hunting guides, and a lot of their stories were experiences in the bush. If you had four or five children listening, you have four or five sets of images in their minds. That's four or five films right there. For me the root of making films is always listening. The word is sacred. So I make many visits to people who I think I want to make a film about. I never come with the camera first. I listen. That develops a trust, and places you in such a beautiful place in the heart of a person, who then is not afraid."
-- Alanis Obomsawin


Source:
Schneller, Johanna. "Four Indigenous filmmakers redefine Canadian film." Interview with Alanis Obomsawin, Danis Goulet, Bretten Hannam, Rhayne Vermette. Globe and Mail, September 9, 2021.