Elders’ Film Inc. has announced that the feature-length documentary s-yéwyáw / Awaken will premiere at home in BC on Saturday, November 25th, 2023 at 4:30 PM at the VIFF Centre in Vancouver. The film will screen on multiple dates in Vancouver following its special event screening on November 25th, where the filmmakers and the film’s Elders will be in attendance for an extended Q&A and Indigenous ceremony. s-yéwyáw / Awaken will also launch on the Sunshine Coast, where it was filmed and many of the team are based, at the Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt on December 13th and 14th, 2023. This news follows the film’s world premiere at the Planet In Focus International Environmental Film Festival in Toronto where it was awarded the People’s Choice Award.
The TELUS original film, directed by award-winning filmmaker Liz Marshall (Meat The Future, The Ghosts in Our Machine), features stories of hope and homecoming as Indigenous multimedia changemakers learn and document the teachings of their Elders. The character-driven documentary connects the transformative stories of artist, musician, and medicine woman Ecko Aleck of the Nlaka’pamux Nation (Lytton, BC), filmmaker and Traditional Wellness Coordinator Alfonso Salinas of the shíshálh Nation (Sunshine Coast, BC) and storyteller and impact producer Charlene SanJenko of Splatsin of the Secwépemc Nation (Shuswap, BC) as they learn and document the traditional cultural teachings and legacies of their Elders, including the impacts of Canada’s Residential School system. Infused with Indigenous ceremony, s-yéwyáw / Awaken walks alongside the process of intergenerational healing and calls the audience’s attention to the filmmaking process of narrative collaboration between an Indigenous and settler team.
“We are honored to share our intergenerational stories of healing and teachings from our Elders at the Planet in Focus film festival. We are in a time of recognizing how far out of balance we’ve traveled and are reminded to lean into the interconnectedness of all living beings with trust and our inherent inner knowing,” says Ecko Aleck, Alfonso Salinas, Charlene SanJenko in a collective statement. “As parents and as Indigenous multimedia creators, we are deeply committed to healing, finding our voice, and speaking our truth. We are sharing the stories of our Indigenous Elders with the world to amplify their knowledge and wisdom in collaboration with non-Indigenous allies. The teachings of our Indigenous Elders are needed now more than ever to navigate a changing world.”
s-yéwyáw / Awaken is written and produced by Ecko Aleck, Liz Marshall, Alfonso Salinas, and Charlene SanJenko, and directed by Liz Marshall. The film was produced with the support of Telus, Developed with the participation of Creative BC, Produced in Association with Hollywood Suite and Knowledge Network, and Funded in part by the province of BC Film Incentive BC and the Canadian Film and Video Production Tax Credit.
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