Tag Archives: The Other Side

APTN announces fall 2021 lineup

From a media release:

This fall, APTN is bringing the heat with new and returning shows that celebrate the many sides of Indigenous lives. From Indigenous change makers and visionaries, to the rustic kitchens of global Indigenous chefs, to survivalists, supernatural encounters and the raw drama of daily life, APTN is here to deliver straight-up Indigenous excellence. You’re going to laugh, you’re going to cry, and you’re going to get hungry, so bust out the napkins and get ready to eat!

APTN continues to be committed to showcasing Indigenous languages and cultures while providing engaging educational content for television viewers. For those who consume programming online, the network’s growing Indigenous-focused streaming service, APTN lumi, will have lots of new binge-worthy content.

The new season will roll out on APTN from September to January and will include the following programs.

Mouthwatering entertainment

Every Tuesday night, tune in for a mouth-watering celebration of food. Learn about Indigenous cuisine on the fan favourite series, Moosemeat & Marmalade and on brand-new programs:

New: Wild Game – Season 1 (Premieres Sept. 7, 2021)
Chef Rich Francis is an advocate for decolonizing food and has one goal in life: to reinvent Indigenous cuisine. Rich visits First Nations across Canada to hunt and gather only the best ingredients nature has to offer. The result: imaginative, improvised, Indigenous cooking that combines traditional practices with modern methods, with the most creative and tasty results.

New: On Country Kitchen – Season 1 (Premieres Sept. 7, 2021)
Comic Derek Nannup and one-of a-kind Indigenous Chef Mark, tour around the beautiful South-West of Western Australia, seeking out some of the best local produce in the world, and meeting some characters along the way.

New: Easy Eats – Season 1 (Premieres Sept. 7, 2021)
A unique culinary experience featuring presenter, Hera Te Kurapa, as she creates a rustic, but delicious fine dining menu filled with mouth-watering dishes.

Thrilling docuseries

Returning: Skindigenous – Season 3 (Premieres Sept. 15, 2021)
Profiling some of the most talented Indigenous tattoo artists in the world, this season highlights more Canadian artists than ever before. The adventure once again takes us deep into various Indigenous communities from around the world using the art of tattoo as a lens.

New: Michif Country – Season 1 (Premieres Sept. 12, 2021)
This documentary series explores the unique landscape, culture and language of the Michif community of Saint Laurent, Man. In this series, Indigenous celebrities embark on traditional hunting, trapping and fishing expeditions with the locals. The result is a comedic, exhilarating and inspiring exchange of culture and knowledge. ​

New: Life Below Zero: Canada – Season 1 (Premieres Oct. 31, 2021)
From long, dark, frozen winters to sweltering, bug-infested summers, Life Below Zero: Canada captures the day-to-day trials of people living in unforgiving environments. Follow the cast as they survive in the coldest and most remote regions of Northern Canada.

French-language content

Returning: Sans Réserve – Season 3 (French Premiere Sept. 6, 2021)
In a cozy and conducive atmosphere, the host Charles Bender welcomes the secrets of his guests with warmth and concern. This French-language series lifts the veil on Indigenous and non-Indigenous personalities who have a profound social, political and cultural impact.

Exploring the supernatural

Returning: Spirit Talker – Season 2 (Premieres Sept. 15, 2021)
Follow Mi’kmaq medium Shawn Leonard as he travels from coast to coast using his psychic abilities to connect the living with the dead and bring hope, healing, and closure to Indigenous communities.

New: Trickster – Season 1 (Premieres Sept. 16, 2021)
Showcasing a vast amount of Indigenous talent, the show follows Jared who is a teenager in the town of Kitimat, B.C. Like his mom and dad, Jared uses drugs and alcohol to escape the daily grind of poverty, violence and abuse. Jared starts seeing weird things like talking ravens, doppelgängers and monsters. To his relief, and terror, he isn’t crazy: he’s inherited magical abilities from his mom and someone he didn’t know existed: his biological dad.

Returning: Red Earth Uncovered – Season 3 (Premieres Sept. 15, 2021)
Tom Jackson and Shayla Stonechild lead the investigation of archaeological discoveries and ancient myths to uncover how Indigenous Peoples may have played a role in historical events and legends.

Returning: The Other Side – Season 7 (Premieres Oct. 28, 2021)
Follow the talented trio helping spirits and their loved ones find peace under the guidance of an Indigenous Elder. Opening the door to the spirit world can have unexpected results. That’s why the team of The Other Side approach every investigation with respect. Intuitive Jeff Richards, researcher Erin Goodpipe and Spirit Guide Tom Charles know that they won’t escape unchanged – and neither will viewers. This year features an episode inside APTN’s head office in Winnipeg.

Big drama

New: Unsettled – Season 1 (Premieres Sept. 10, 2021)
When urban Indigenous power couple Darryl and Rayna Keetch uproot their family and abandon their affluent life in Toronto and move home to the rez, everything they’ve worked for is compromised, including their marriage.

Returning: Tribal – Season 2 (Premieres Oct. 21, 2021)
Tribal returns where interim Tribal Chief Samantha Woodburn (Jessica Matten) attempts to overcome political red tape and must also prove herself amongst the old-white-boys club of the Metro Police. She navigates politics and procedure as she clashes with her partner, Chuck “Buke” Bukansky (Brian Markinson), a seasoned but broken-down Metro Police detective.

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Link: Jennifer Podemski was frustrated with the lack of Indigenous stories on our screens. So she became a producer

From Victoria Ahearn of the Canadian Press:

Link: Jennifer Podemski was frustrated with the lack of Indigenous stories on our screens. So she became a producer
“I flip-flop between being super encouraged and inspired, and devastated and frustrated at the state of affairs when it comes to Indigenous stories, and how the mainstream is opening its doors or not opening its doors to the storytellers.” Continue reading.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Link: A Conversation with Jennifer Podemski: ACTRA Toronto’s 2018 Award of Excellence Recipient

From Vincent Schilling of Indian Country Media Network:

Link: A Conversation with Jennifer Podemski: ACTRA Toronto’s 2018 Award of Excellence Recipient
“It bothered me that over the first 10 years of my acting career I rarely, if ever, saw any native people working on the crew, or as producers and directors. It bugged me because all the work I was doing was native stuff. So I decided to become a producer. I was 25 when I opened Big Soul Productions with Laura Milliken. We dedicated every waking hour to building a production company rooted in authentic indigenous stories and perspectives while training a new generation of talent both behind the scenes and in front of the camera.” Continue reading.

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Link: Saskatoon film and TV producer Bob Crowe dies at the age of 62

From Cam Fuller of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix:

Link: Saskatoon film and TV producer Bob Crowe dies at the age of 62
Remembered as a faithful friend, supportive boss and a key player in the province’s film and television industry, Bob Crowe died suddenly on Friday.

Crowe, 62, was a co-owner of Angel Entertainment and Bamboo Shoots and had his hand in everything from feature films to TV series, commercials and live events. Continue reading.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

APTN’s The Other Side explores more ghostly stories in revamped Season 3

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.

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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.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail