From Melissa Hank of O.Canada:
Link: CBC’s Exhibitionists proves home is where the art is
Some art purists are quick to extol classic works like American Gothic. The CBC-TV series Exhibitionists, however, staunchly focuses on Canadian modern.
Now in its second season, the show spotlights homegrown artists who are redrawing the creative landscape. And with their emphasis on social media tools like Instagram and Twitter, this ain’t your grandma’s art show. Continue reading.Â
Jennifer Podemski is a fan of paranormal programming. Heck, she’s had her own experiences with the otherworldly. But while programs like Paranormal State interested her, they didn’t cover a wide swath of her own background.
“I was a huge fan of Paranormal State, to the point I would watch the same episodes over and over again,” the writer, producer and actor says. “Then I realized, ‘Huh, isn’t it funny that I’ve never noticed how absent this show and genre is of an Indigenous perspective?'” After gleaning that information for several years, she consulted with her Angel Entertainment colleagues Wally Start and Bob Crowe and wrote a show bible. The result? The Other Side—returning for Season 3 this Thursday on APTN—a program that has Indigenous perspectives and ways of knowing, understanding and belief systems woven throughout the narrative.
“It’s an interesting spin on an old genre,” Podemski says. “I thought it would be amazing to have something on our own network, APTN, that showcased a little bit of perspective.” Back for more experiences are intuitive Jeff Richards and elder and spirit guide Tom Charles, with newbie Michaella Shannon taking over as researcher; researcher Priscilla Wolf and investigator Bill Connelly are longer with the show. Podemski has known Shannon for years, since she was part of the supernatural drama Rabbit Fall, and in addition to being an amazing role model within the community, is an intuitive like Richards. She was a natural when Podemski was looking to refresh and tighten up the series for Season 3.
That refresh isn’t contained to the cast. The Other Side‘s opening credits have been revised and filming of the 13 episodes took place during the summer months, a first for the program. What hasn’t changed is the content. The Other Side continues its excellent storytelling, education and documentation of paranormal experiences without using cheap camera tricks and dramatic music to play up what this trio witnesses. Thursday’s return instalment, “Mr. Clark,” not only gives a history of Fort Walsh Historic Site in Maple Creek, Sask., and the massacre of First Nations people that occurred there but documents a man who may still be wandering around the grounds.
Podemski says upcoming an episode presents the most meaningful communication between a client and spirit or entity ever while another provides powerful, emotional moments at a residential school.
“One of my biggest concerns about doing [an episode] like that was that the story was told in a respectful and accurate way, that has the ability to transcend the policies around what people understand about residential schools,” she says. “These are real people that are very rarely spoken about in the Canadian narrative. It was a very intense show.”
The Other Side airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on APTN.
Images courtesy of APTN.
From James Bawden:
Link: The Brain’s Way Of Healing: TV For The Mind
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a TV documentary as challenging as The Brain’s Way Of Healing.
This hourlong edition of The Nature Of Things premieres Thursday night at 8 on CBC.
As TV networks multiply and fight for ratings dominance any program that  assumes viewers are intelligent and demanding becomes ever more of a rarity. Continue reading.
The opening segment of Secret Path, set to the haunting song “The Stranger” sung by Gord Downie, is perhaps the most illustrative for me. It juxtaposes Chanie Wenjack’s home, and his treacherous walk home. Comic artist Jeff Lemire’s use of colour was perfection. But what I found particularly refreshing was the lack of stereotypical representations. Chanie’s father was not the “wild man” that he and all of mainstream Canada were taught to believe. He was simply a father loved by his son, like fathers everywhere. And this is the secret. But I will come back to that.
Throughout Secret Path, Chanie is illustrated as a dark-haired boy clothed in nondescript clothing. A young, terrified and alone dark-haired boy. He played on swings like all children do, he liked to fish, like so many children learn to do. Even the scenes that illustrated punishment and abuse at the hands of a priest, could have been about any boy in attendance at any religious school—of which we now know there were many worldwide.
Following the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, Calls To Action were made recommending mainstream Canadians learn about Indigenous culture. And why is this so important? It is not to make mainstream Canadians feel guilty—although we as a collective bear the burden of guilt—but rather to recognize the humanity of an entire segment of Canada that has been ignored, even denied, for centuries.
With the gravitas the name Gord Downie brings to this project, this animation attempts to bring attention to the inequities present in the northern communities. Secret Path was not designed to teach the story of the Residential School System. That is told elsewhere. This project was, however, about honouring the life of a little boy, about recognizing who was to blame for the death of that little boy, and it was about reminding mainstream Canadians to be empathetic. Chanie, drawn as Lemire did, deliberately suggests he could be could be any little boy anywhere in rural Canada. He could be any child, living with happy childhood memories, any child with a family who loves him.
It is also important to keep in mind that while students in the RSS were being inculcated to believe they were heathen, dirty, subhuman beings not worthy of decent food let alone humane treatment whilst in the care of church and government, so too was mainstream taught the same. Secret Path is teaching us that for reconciliation to truly begin, all people living in Canada need to see the humanity in each of us. It is only with this acceptance that we can use that empathy as a motivation to build the bridges between cultures, from both shores. Chanie’s sister Pearl states, “As big as the world is, we are all connected in some way. I don’t know how, but I know that.” This is the very connection that the Canadian government and the RSS sought to destroy. This is the spark of humanity that is the key, the secret, to begin healing those connections again.
Will this be a project destined for classrooms everywhere? Perhaps. Regardless, it was beautifully structured, and Lemire’s work continues to mature. I was already a huge fan of his illustrative talents. Now I am more so!
What did you think of Secret Path? Comment below.
I had been waiting for a screener of The Secret Path to land in my Inbox the moment I heard about this project. I have been a casual listener of The Tragically Hip for more years than I care to admit and I am also a big fan of artist Jeff Lemire’s work. I first took note of Lemire’s work with Essex County, a finalist for Canada Reads in 2011. His style is uniquely his own. Once you are familiar with his work, there is no doubt in your mind when you come across his other projects.
I was going into this preview with some trepidation. I am a firm believer that as Canadians—as we move together through this process of reconciliation—mainstream or non-Indigenous peoples must let Indigenous voices tell their own stories. For too long, non-Indigenous peoples have told them, using those tales to their own ends, often against the very people for whom they belonged.
Lemire had recently created Equinox for the comic Justice League United, based upon Shannen Koostachin, and prior to publishing it he received permission from the community of Attiwapiskat. That Lemire was on board for the telling of the Chanie Wenjack story eased a few of my concerns.
The animation opens with a brief introduction from Gord Downie as he travelled to Ogoki, Ont., to meet with Wenjack’s family. We meet his sister Pearl, who appears delighted Chanie’s story is finally being told, and bemused, “Who would have thought? Tragically Hip?” doing so.
The story itself is presented in a series of short clips, short vignettes if you will. Each features a different component of Chanie’s lonely and desperate escape from Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School and his fruitless quest to reach his home. Each segment a different song sung by Downie, frontman for The Tragically Hip.
The first song shows memories of home, with Chanie and his family drawn in a warm colour palette in warm tones. This is the only sequence to feature those warm sunny colours. Throughout the rest of the animation, Lemire sticks to the cooler blue in his artistry reflecting the conditions Chanie traveled through, including freezing rain, while wearing only a light cotton jacket provided by the school.
The Secret Path airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBC and on the network website.
Save
