Press Conference:
newspaper images by Zia-Wei Zhang (from the back) filmmakers Suvi West, Marie-Helene Cousineau, Denise Zmekhol, Kit Lee, Me, Zia-Wei Zhang, Alanis Obamsawin & Jennifer Machiorlatti
IFA Indigenous Film Archive
We met with the lovely director of the Film Festival Renchin. Also got to meet Nepali film makers & was given some of their short films to bring home to New Zealand
Thurs 21/4 9am-5pm Conference - The Evolving Indigenous Women
A conference organised by the Indigenous Film Archive in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples Caucus & Nepal Womens Federation of Indigenous Nationalities supported by Embassy of Denmark DANIDA & IDEA International
Key note speaker Alanis Obomsawin a member of the Abernaki Nation, she is 80yrs old and has been making documentary films for over 40yrs.
Begins with the screening of the archival film 'Mother of Many Children' that is an album of native womanhood, portraying a matriarchal society which has been pressured for centuries into adopting different standards and customs.
Alanis will share her observations on the current status of the indigenous woman in comparison to the time when she produced the film in 1975.
Jennifer Machiorlatti
an artist & educator is currently producing a documentary feature 'Matriarchal Voices: a story about storytellers'. Her independant media work & writing focuses on womens life experiences, freedom of expression & Indigenous cinema.
Suvi West
Sami film maker Suvi West grew up on the Finnish part of Sami land. Documentary & Film maker & Director of an Indigenous Peoples film festival Skabmagovat.
Denise Zmekhol
A native of Sao Paulo Brazil. In television production she combines a public affairs sensibility with a commercial directors visual acumen. She is currently producing a documentary with Google Earth Outreach to train Indigenous Amazonian tribes how to use Google Earth to create maps to record cultural traditions and to monitor the forest against illegal logging.
At the end of the conferece they will be drafting of the Kathmandu Declaration of Indigenous Women
Friday 22/4 will be the Festival Inauguration where my work Tawhirimatea will be projected on to both walls of the Town hall
Friday 22/4-Monday 25 Indigenous Films will be showing
Sat 23/4 - morning workshops: The Imaginative Way by Jason Ryle
Sun 24/4 - Point of View - Sharing Experiences & Challenges as Sami Woman Film maker by Suvi West
Monday 25/4 - Before Tomorrow by Marie Helene Cousinneau
Also Food Festival & Wearable Art: an art workshop & exhibition of indigenous traditions woven into wearable art, this is the collaboration that we'll all be working on