Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

Hitchcock, Spielberg, Tarantino, Scorsese, Del Toro. Akwesasne teens began their journey to join the filmmaking elite when they spent their weekend learning the art of cinematic storytelling in the Akwesasne Just Got Reel Youth Film Production Camp. These students also gained an awareness of a very important relationship issue, domestic violence. This event was sponsored by the Akwesasne Family Wellness Program and organized by Raeann Oakes.

Katsitsionni Fox instructed the students in hands-on digital filmmaking processes with filmmaking equipment and in class presentations that demonstrated techniques of the moving image-such as sound production, lighting and editing. "We talked about how to plan for a movie and what some of the considerations you have to think about before you even start films," explained Ms. Fox. "We actually practiced with the camera and I taught how to get different shots like close-ups, mediums, panning and all the other technical stuff with using a camera."

The camp included everything that you would expect in a university film production school but in a condensed, lively and fast paced format that challenged and kept the interest of the media-savvy teens in attendance. Screenings, film discussion, audio and what types of mics are good for what situations were also discussed. From pre-production planning and script writing, to shooting, editing, output and eventually distribution...all aspects of filmmaking were covered.

"Our objective was twofold," commented Ms. Fox. "One was to teach film production and the other was to teach and provide awareness for sexual assault and domestic violence. Saturday morning we did the film production learning and in the afternoon Jessica Danforth, Executive Director of Native Youth Sexual Health Network, talked to the students and provided training by power point about sexual assault and domestic violence. She did a Step into the Circle exercise where students would step inside their circle if they felt that this or that was happening."

The students also did a project on the Two Row Wampum Belt. They first discussed what a healthy relationship is and then did drawings and wrote words on what would help them remember this discussion. They also learned what is needed to make a healthy relationship like self respect, boundaries, communication.

Ms. Fox went on to explain that domestic violence was actually the topic of the film that they were going to produce. They decided that they would go on location on Sunday to get some footage at the Longhouse where the Rites of Passage teachings would be taking place. "We picked that place because a lot of good things are happening there. The youth are learning a lot about their culture and about respect," stated Fox. "We did interviews with people there by asking two questions. In one word or one sentence we asked people what sexual assault and domestic violence meant to them. We then asked what is a healthy relationship is to them." The next thing we did was the Step into the Circle exercise that we had done the day before with our small group. Participants were asked if they felt that domestic violence was a problem in our community to step into the circle. It was a pretty powerful statement when everyone stepped in."

Now the next task was to take all the footage from the two days and put it together in a short film. "The kids are bright so we moved pretty fast," said Ms. Fox. "We were able to do some editing which I didn't think we would get that far. I showed the students the final cut like the software words and gave them the chance to do some editing. They were even able to view some of the footage to give them an idea of what we have and what's happening."

Ms. Fox had a very able and experienced assistant, Salmon River senior Raienkonnis Edwards. "Raienkonnis was a very helpful assistant," said Ms. Fox. "He is one of my film students in school and he took my summer film workshop last summer." He will be attending Onondaga Community College in the fall and will eventually be going on to a film school. Raienkonnis does independent work and is often hired to do projects in the community. "I am an avid film maker and it's something that I really enjoy doing," stated Raienkonnis. "I loved this project. I am familiar with the topic since I have been a Rites of Passage participant and have awareness about domestic violence already. I know the red flags and indicators."

Raienkonnis Edwards, in the middle, leads the Step in the Circle exercise at the Long House.

Cassidy Peters said that she really enjoyed the weekend. "I didn't know that my mom had signed me up until I got a phone call saying that I had been picked to come," said Cassidy. "I want to be a film producer as a career and really liked being here." When Evan George and Colby Oakes-Chubb were asked if they learned a lot during the workshop they both replied yes. When asked about their thoughts on the topic of domestic violence they both expressed that they had awareness but did not really think about it much until this weekend. They felt it was a good project to work on to help other people to start thinking about domestic violence.

The video will debut at the Youth Conference taking place this coming weekend, March 8th, at the St. Regis Recreation building. All youth in attendance will receive a copy of the film. Who knows, maybe one or more of these film students will be the next Steven Spielberg.