Actress and Producer Jennifer Podemski's film Empire of Dirt premieres this week at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. It screens Friday, September 6, and Sunday, September 8.
Having a film premiere at TIFF is a big deal for me; the experience carries a 35-year-old legacy of performing and storytelling. You see, I believe that we are each given a unique set of skills or gifts, and it us up to us, and those around us, to foster those gifts. Since I can remember, I always loved to perform for an audience. Perhaps it was because I was the product of teen parents and somewhat of a novelty to those around them, or maybe it was something I was born with; whatever the reason, I got the "bug" at an early age. I grew up entertaining, whether I was singing and dancing for guests or writing and performing skits with my sister, I seemed to excel in that environment. Whatever the case may be, performing became my refuge; a refuge from feeling out of place and different. Oddly enough, it seemed as if all the other people who felt out of place and different also gravitated towards the stage. By grade three, I was immersed in the performing arts and surrounded by other "creative types." Those around me nurtured my interest: My grandmother took me to the theatre, my parents sent me to extra curricular dance and theatre classes, and in general, my creative spirit was supported.
It wasn't until I was older that my creative spirit was compromised. Prior to attending Claude Watson Performing Arts High School (at Early Haig S.S. in Toronto), I had and extensive performing resume that even included several television appearances. Although I was majoring in dance, I always flirted with theatre. By 16, I had my first agent and had begun auditioning. It was then that I became painfully aware of the cultural barriers in film and television. A part of me wanted to quit; it seemed pointless. I was only sent out for Native roles and even those were few and far between. I don't think it was anyone's fault, but I do know that something was wrong with the industry as a whole. Growing up, I had almost never seen Native people on television, none that I could relate to anyway. I was frustrated and angry at the world, but something inside me told me to "keep going." If I wanted to change things, I had to stick with it and follow in the path of my predecessors, inlcuding Tantoo Cardinal, Gordon Tootoosis, Jay Silverheels, Thomas King, Pam Mathews, Tom Jackson, August Schellenberg, Monique Mojica, Michelle St. John, and Jani Lauzon. Even though I didn't know what it was all for, I chose to take the path of most resistance.
My major turning point came when I was cast in Bruce McDonald's Dance Me Outside; it gave me some notoriety and showcased my ability. But at the end of the day, I was still seen as a Native Actress, an actor defined by my cultural affiliation, and the opportunities were always limited. If it weren't for my agents Celia Chassels and Gary Goddard, I may never have had the opportunity to be seen "outside the box." They shamelessly submitted me for everything, convincing casting directors and producers that I could play the girl next door, the waitress, the doctor, etc. And it worked. But still, the jobs were few and far between.
By 25, I felt defeated by the business and my inability to shift the paradigm. I prayed and asked for guidance, and the answers that I received all pointed behind the camera. At 26, I launched Big Soul Productions with Laura Milliken. Our mandate was to train aboriginal youth in film and television while creating culturally relevant content for all audiences. The struggle continued. It was an uphill battle. It seemed as if people were just not into Native Stories, Native perspectives, or Native talent.
That is at the core of the struggle. Popular opinion about Native people was created by Hollywood back in the John Ford days. It was a cooperative effort with all media at the time and ultimately it created a divide between America and its Indians. That is the paradigm that still resonates today. Although we, as Native storytellers, have enjoyed some incredible achievements, we still have a long way to go.
That is why being at TIFF with a film I produced is a huge deal. It comes with a lot of baggage. It took eight years to make this film, but for me, it really took a lifetime to the courage to do it! I am especially proud to star alongside two extremely talented Native women. If you do have a chance to see Empire of Dirt, you will see that it isn't exclusively a Native story. It is a film about a broken family; about people with baggage and about the power we each have within ourselves to end negative cycles. Although it is a culturally specific perspective, it is a film that has a universal message, and I hope the film will resonate with cultures around the world.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
Loading Slideshow
Midnight Madness Highlights
Midnight Madness Highlights
All Cheerleaders Die
A high-school outsider’s plot to revenge herself on the captain of the football team turns bloody when some phantasmagorical hijinks get tossed into the mix, in this refreshingly smart horror comedy from directors Lucky McKee (<em>May</em>, <em>The Woods</em>) and Chris Sivertson (<em>I Know Who Killed Me</em>). (TIFF website, 2013)
Almost Human
A quiet rural town in Maine becomes a raging inferno of axe murders and alien abduction in this lean, mean and grisly indie horror flick. (TIFF website, 2013)
The Green Inferno
Horror maestro Eli Roth (<em>Hostel</em>) returns to the director’s chair for this gruesome homage to the notorious Italian cannibal movies of the late seventies and early eighties. (TIFF website, 2013)
Oculus
Years after the mysterious deaths of their parents, a traumatized brother and sister find the cause of their family tragedy: a cursed mirror whose 300-year history has left a bloody trail of destruction in its wake. (TIFF website, 2013)
Rigor Mortis
A public-housing tenement is plunged into a dark storm of supernatural chaos, in this loving tribute to the cult classic Hong Kong horror-comedy series <em>Mr. Vampire</em>. (TIFF website, 2013)
Why Don't You Play in Hell?
A renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud in this wild, perverse and blood-soaked orgy of outrageousness from cult director Sion Sono (<em>Suicide Club</em>). (TIFF website, 2013)
Doc Highlights
Doc Highlights
At Berkeley
Direct cinema pioneer Frederick Wiseman takes an in-depth look at the preeminent American university during a fall semester that saw a vigorous debate taking place over tuition hikes, budget cuts, and the future of higher education in the United States. (TIFF website 2013)
Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story
Barry Avrich’s account of the life of this most unlikely revolutionary of the 1960s counterculture is energetic, iconoclastic and well researched, examining Guccione’s long and audacious career, most notably as publisher of the hugely influential pornographic magazine <em>Penthouse</em> and producer of the porn epic <em>Caligula</em>. (TIFF website 2013)
A Story of Children and Film
Director Mark Cousins follows his epic documentary <em>The Story of Film</em> with this globe-spanning rumination on children in the cinema, surveying such classics as <em>The 400 Blows</em>, <em>E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial</em>, <em>Fanny and Alexander</em>,<em> Los Olvidados</em>, and <em>The White Balloon</em>. (TIFF website 2013)
The Uknown Known
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris (<em>The Fog of War</em>, <em>Standard Operating Procedure</em>) continues his exploration of post-9/11 American imperialism with this riveting, feature-length interview with notorious former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. (TIFF website 2013)
When Jews Were Funny
Insightful and often hilarious, the latest from documentary filmmaker Alan Zweig surveys the history of Jewish comedy, from the early days of Borsht belt to the present, ultimately exploring not just ethnicity in the entertainment industry, but also the entire unruly question of what it means to be Jewish. (TIFF website 2013)
Canadian Film Highlights
Canadian Film Highlights
The Animal Project
A Toronto theatre director endures a series of creative and personal travails in this affecting and typically inventive new film from Festival favourite Ingrid Veninger (<em>MODRA</em>,<em> i am a good person/i am a bad person</em>). (TIFF website, 2013)
Asphalt Watches
This hilarious, grotesque, and unique adult animated feature chronicles visual artists Seth Scriver and Shayne Ehman’s trans-Canadian road trip as they encounter dull violence, rampant consumerism and unbridled eccentricity in small towns all over this wide, weird country. (TIFF website, 2013)
Empire of Dirt
Three generations of First Nations women struggle to deal with the demons of their past, in this powerful and affecting drama from actor-turned-director Peter Stebbings (<em>Defendor</em>). (TIFF website, 2013)
Enemy
Denis Villenueve (<em>Incendies</em>) will be doing double duty at this year’s festival, since this announcement follows the previous announcement of Prisoners. Enemy sees Jake Gyllenhaal playing a University professor, who encounters his exact double. That’s all the information I need to be interested in this thriller. - Sean Kelly
The F Word
<em>FUBAR</em> and <em>Goon</em> director Michael Dowse makes a surprising swerve into sweetness with this winning romantic comedy starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan. (TIFF website, 2013)
The Husband
Saddled with a lousy job, an infant son, and a wife doing jail time for sleeping with a 14-year-old, a disgruntled Toronto ad-agency employee struggles to deal with his impotent rage, in this gutsy black comedy from beloved Canadian maverick Bruce McDonald. (TIFF website, 2013)
Tom at the Farm
This latest work from Canada’s endlessly inventive and provocative Xavier Dolan (<em>J'ai tué ma mere</em>, <em>Laurence Anyways</em>) follows a grief-stricken man who visits his dead lover’s parents — only to discover that they were unaware of their son’s sexual orientation. (TIFF website, 2013)
Follow Jennifer Podemski on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Podemskichick
0 comments:
Post a Comment