Terril Calder

When Jimmy leaves his reservation for the lures of city life, he finds himself confronted with a future he could never have imagined.

At Archer’s Aunty Gladys’ funeral, he hears a tap on the window — it’s a bear named Jesus, who has come for Archer’s mom. “A Bear Named Jesus” is an allegory for religious interference, with an aching yet humorous look at estrangement and mourning for the loss of someone still living.

Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics dives deeply into the innate contrast between the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride and Envy) and the Seven Sacred Teachings (Love, Respect, Wisdom, Courage, Truth, Honesty and Humility), as embodied in the life of a precocious Métis baby. Brought to life by Terril Calder’s darkly beautiful stop-motion animation, her inner turmoil of abuse is laid bare with unflinching honesty. Convinced she’s soiled and destined for Hell, Baby Girl receives teachings that fill her with strength and pride, and affirm a path towards healing. Calder’s tour-de-force unearths a hauntingly familiar yet hopeful world that illuminates the bias of colonial systems.

Often feeling alone in her waking life, the young Alanis Obomsawin found friendship with the Green Horse, a benevolent being she visited regularly in her dreams. Together with other animal spirits, the Green Horse guided Alanis to realize the immensity of the gift of life and the power of kindness.

Party girl Annie and Gordon, a homeless man, travel through a remote subway tunnel to a different time; to a world where two children are held captive and tormented by bizarre figures. A multilayered animated film which brings to life the dark history of the Canadian residential school system, in which – as recently as the 1990s – First Nations children were being indoctrinated and estranged from their parents and culture.

What if you were born with great superficial beauty and you hadn’t the imagination to realize it might be temporary? “Canned Meat” is about a woman who made a life out of being beautiful but never knew how to sooth her undeveloped soul.

Vibrations still resonate from the lands past. If you paid full attention you can hear the history underfoot. Toronto has always been a gathering place for the interchange of knowledge, experience and goods. It has a rich history of those traditions and remains to be rich because of those traditions. Repercussions is a portal that examines the link aboriginal people have to the lands history and resonates into a future that is strengthen by this acknowledgement.

Keewaydah explores the reclamation of Indigenous storytelling, identity, culture and history through stop motion animation. Produced with the assistance of the NFB's FAP program.