Helen Haig-Brown

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Helen Haig-Brown is a Tsilhqot'in filmmaker [1] [2] working primarily with indigenous and First Nations themes. [3] Many of these derive from her maternal roots in the Tsilhqot'in First Nation.

Contents

Early life and education

Helen Haig-Brown is from the Yunesit'in community of the Tsilhqot'in Nation in British Columbia, Canada. She is the granddaughter of naturalist Roderick Haig-Brown [4] and daughter of Alan Haig-Brown. She graduated from the Indigenous Independent Digital Filmmaking (IIDF) program [5] at Capilano University. [6]

Career in film

Haig-Brown's short drama The Cave (?E?Anx) received funding from the National Film Board and BC Native Arts Council. [7] It was selected for screening at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and at Berlinale 2010. [8] In 2009 ?E?Anx was named one of Canada's Top Ten Short Films by the Toronto International Film Festival.

Haig-Brown has directed a number of independent documentary films as well as serving as director of photography on others. She contributed to the Knowledge Networks series Our First Voices, with three scripted and directed works in addition to serving as director of photography on the work of colleagues. [9] A recent collaboration with her aunt Dr. Celia Haig-Brown of York University resulted in Pelq'ilc, an account of the Secwepemc Nation's language revitalization programs. [10] Earlier works included Su Naa (My Big Brother) (2005) which she wrote and directed. [11] She completed a feature film, My Legacy, examining the universal and personal theme of mother-daughter relations. [12] [13] The film was screened at the Victoria Film Festival, [14] and was shown on the APTN Network in 2014. [15] The film is supported by an interactive web page.

The film Edge of the Knife , co-directed by Haig-Brown and Gwaai Edenshaw, premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. [16] The film was named to the Canada's Top Ten list for 2018, [17] and the duo won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director of a Canadian Film. [18]

Notes

  1. ↑ "“People on the Pipeline” films screened in Kelowna". Okanagan Life, January 2, 2015
  2. ↑ "Evolution in Indigenous filmmaking".. Toronto Film Scene, by Prerana Das | October 20, 2014
  3. ↑ Sovereign Screens: Aboriginal Media on the Canadian West Coast By Kristin L. Dowell
  4. ↑ "'It's living and breathing in this generation': A conversation with Helen Haig-Brown". Rabble, By Christina Turner| January 30, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Helen Haig-Brown | National Museum of the American Indian". filmcatalog.nmai.si.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  6. ↑ "My Legacy screens Saturday" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine . Williams Lake Tribune, Gaeil Farrar, March 5, 2014
  7. ↑ Scott A. Gray, "Sci-Fi: Out There". Exclaim! , June 1, 2010.
  8. ↑ Tsilhqot’in Helen Haig-Brown Splashes at Sundance – ICTMN.com
  9. ↑ Our First Voices – Shorts | Knowledge Network Archived 2012-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ Pelq’ilc: Coming Home | Faculty of Education
  11. ↑ "Su Naa (My Big Brother) | IsumaTV". Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  12. ↑ "Victoria Film Festival an enduring attraction in the download age". Michael D. Reid / Times Colonist, February 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Sneak peek at Victoria film fest: Opening gala to feature Boychoir". Michael D. Reid / Times Colonist, December 19, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Women’s voices dominate film festival’s Indigenous program". Coastal Spectator, February 11, 2015
  15. ↑ "My Legacy Interview with Courageous Filmmaker Helen Haig-Brown". Muskrat Magazine, February 05, 2014
  16. ↑ "First feature film shot in Haida premieres at TIFF". Unreserved , September 14, 2018.
  17. ↑ "TIFF's Canada's Top Ten list skews a lot younger this year". Now , December 5, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Vancouver Film Critics Circle names Edge of the Knife top Canadian feature film". Toronto Star , January 8, 2019.

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