Mark Your Calendar: “s-yéwyáw: Awaken” brings Indigenous knowledge to the VIFF Centre

by Sara Harowitz on November 16th, 2023 at 5:20 AM

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Indigenous knowledge is taking front and centre with the release of s-yéwyáw: Awaken in Vancouver later this month.

Screening at the VIFF Centre on select dates from November 25 to December 7, the documentary—a Elders’ Film Inc. feature-length directed by Liz Marshall (Meat The Future)—follows Indigenous artists and thinkers as they document the teachings of their Elders.

“I humbly walk with this film as a settler director at the request of Indigenous friends, filmmakers, and the communities who invited me to bear witness to their truths and healing journeys,” says Marshall in a statement. “Guided by Indigenous teachings to bring our whole selves to the work, this film has initiated a profound process of decolonization. I hope it will serve as a model for other Indigenous and non-Indigenous teams working together, toward personal and systemic change.”

The film’s VIFF Centre run opens on the 25 with a special event screening, where the filmmakers and Elders will be in attendance for an Indigenous ceremony and a Q&A session. It will then go on to show at the Raven's Cry Theatre in Sechelt on December 13 and 14.