NFB Collection
Writing the Land
20077 min 46 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: Kevin Lee Burton
Production: Selwyn JacobRina Fraticelli
Script: Kevin Lee Burton
The Musqueam people have lived for thousands of years in and around what is
now the city of Vancouver. (The word Musqueam is an anglicized term
describing 'where the Muxqui [river grass] grows.') Director Kevin Lee
Burton's new film Writing the Land meticulously
combines film language with Hunkamenum words to recreate Musqueam elder Larry
Grant's experience of rediscovering his language and cultural traditions.
Fluid roaming camera movement captures the ever-changing nature of a
modern city - the glass and steel towers cut against the sky, grass, trees and
a sudden flash of birds in flight. In this mutable, multifaceted environment,
the enduring power of language to shape perception and create memory is etched
onto the wind and water. In Larry Grant's own words, 'I am from Musqueam...We
have been here forever.'
Availability
Subject categories
- Indigenous Peoples in Canada (First Nations and Métis) > Cultural IdentityEducationLegends and LiteraturePortraits
- Literature and Language - Canada > Indigenous WritersLanguage Issues
- Indigenous Studies > History/PoliticsIdentity/SocietyIssues and Contemporary Challenges
- Geography > Territory: IndigenousTerritory: Urban
- Indigenous Governance General (Modern, Contemporary) > British Columbia
- Roles & Relationships > Elders
- Indigenous Language > Halq'eméylem (Stó:lo, Musqueam, Katzie,Tsawassen, Nanoose, Nanaimo, Chemainus, Cowichan, and Malahat) Language Preservation & RevitalizationLanguage Recordings
- Indigenous Peoples: Canada > Musqueam
Credits
- writer
- Kevin Lee Burton
- director
- Kevin Lee Burton
- producer
- Selwyn Jacob
- cinematographer
- Helen Haig-Brown
- editor
- Helen Haig-Brown
- Eliot Piltz
- sound design
- Tony Papa
- sound supervision
- Tony Papa
- online editor
- Eliot Piltz
- colourist
- Eliot Piltz
- re-recording mixer
- Jeff Yellen
- editing consultant
- Tony Papa
- post-production services
- Avanti Pictures
- production coordinator
- Jennifer Roworth
- technical coordinator
- Wes Machnikowski
- production supervisor
- Kathryn Lynch
- marketing manager
- Kay Leung
- program administrator
- Bruce Hagerman
- executive producer
- Rina Fraticelli
Awards
- Best Manitoban FilmAboriginal Film and Video Festival
- Gerry Brunet Memorial Award, ex-aequo with "Hirsute" by AJ BondOut on Screen - Queer Film & Video Festival