How People Got Fire

200816 min 2 secFilm: Animation

Direction: Daniel Janke

Production: Svend-Erik EriksenMartin RoseRina Fraticelli

Script: Daniel Janke

How People Got Fire centres on Grandma Kay (based on elder Kitty Smith) and the connection she forges with the village children through the oral tradition of their culture.

Twelve-year-old Tish is one of those children - an introspective, talented girl who feels particularly drawn to Grandma Kay's kitchen. Here, past and present blend, myth and reality meet, and the metaphor of fire infuses all in a location that lies at the heart of the community's spiritual and cultural memory.

Subject categories


  • Literature and Language > Animation based on LiteratureIndigenous Traditional Stories
  • Indigenous Peoples in Canada (First Nations and Métis) > ChildrenLegends and LiteratureOral CultureReligion and Spirituality
  • Literature and Language - Canada > Indigenous Traditional Stories
  • English Language Arts > CanLit
  • Social Studies > Communities in Canada/World
  • Languages > English as a Second Language
  • Media Education > Film Animation
  • Indigenous Studies > Identity/Society
  • Arts Education > Music
  • Ethics and Religious Culture > Religious Diversity/Heritage

Credits


screenplay
Daniel Janke
direction
Daniel Janke
producer
Svend-Erik Eriksen
Martin Rose
director of photography
Brian Johnson
creative consultant
M. Marilyn Cherenko
narrator
Louise Profeit-Leblanc
Jonnie-Lyn Kushniruk
animation
Christopher Auchter
design
Christopher Auchter
Jay White
lead animator
Jay White
rotoscoping
Myk Smith
Kari Frost
Stuart Andrew Sharp
Virginie St. Jean-Leblanc
Jay White
classical animation
Christopher Auchter
Stuart Andrew Sharp
background painting
Emma Barr
Jay White
compositing
Lake Pearson
Jay White
editor
Andrew Connors
sound design
Daniel Janke
sound supervision
Dennis Burke
cast
Mae Hume
Jonnie-Lyn Kushniruk
Amy Smarch
Austin Smith
production manager
Jessica Hall
casting director
Arlin McFarlane
1st assistant director
Paul Etherington
camera assistant
Paul Pitzel
gaffer
James Liston
key grip
Joe Bishop
dolly grip
Kurt Fraser
best boy
Jay E. Sather
set decorator
Emma Barr
props
Emma Barr
assistant set decorator
Jassin Godard
wardrobe
Linda Talbot
hair
Linda Talbot
makeup
Linda Talbot
catering
Louise Johns
Charlie James
craft service
Rosa Brown
transportation
Jessie D. Jackson
production assistant
Darlene Ann Smith
background performer
Maya Ayotte
Ida Calmegane
Charlie James
Colleen James
Devon James
Liam Janke
Sophie Janke
Art Johns
Sheena Johns
Naomi Donna Helm
Tyrel Low-Bayne
Tanisha Low-Bayne
Heather Neumann
Kala Neumann
Rae-Anne Sidney
Gina Rose Slevinsky
Billy William Smith
Helen June Smith
Julia Smith
Landis Smith
Trevaughn Smith
Ben Teertstra
research
Sharon Shorty
music composer
Daniel Janke
music - arrangement
Daniel Janke
music - publisher
Daniel Janke
musician
Adele Armin
Daniel Janke
Igor Gefter
Rick Sacks
Jordy Walker
copyist
Greg Hamilton
re-recording mixer
Dennis Burke
online editor
Jonathan Tyrrell
post-production services
Shaman Digital Media
production coordinator
Christine Sears
Teri Snelgrove
technical coordinator
Wes Machnikowski
production supervisor
Kathryn Lynch
marketing manager
Mia Desroches
program administrator
Bruce Hagerman
executive producer
Rina Fraticelli

Awards


  • Best Animated Short FilmAnnual American Indian Film Festival
  • Best Short DocumentaryimagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival
  • TEUEIKAN Second PrizeFirst Peoples' Festival (Land InSights)
  • Best AnimationDreamspeakers International Indigenous Film Festival