Events

CLAUDE VENDETTE AND FRANCIS GRANDMONT

LUCIE IDLOUT

• Rez White and Blues
• Awards Ceremony
• June 21, National Aboriginal Solidarity Day
• Day of the Popping Corn
• At Café l'Utopik
• At BAnQ Montreal Archives Centre

Also on stage, the Inuit singer and songwriter Lucie Idlout.

Guitarist and composer FRANCIS GRANDMONT, has worked with Richard Desjardins (Abbitibbi), André Duchesne (Locomotive), Christian Pastor and Michel Faubert.

Composer, saxophonist and flutist CLAUDE VENDETTE has played along with the members of the Fanfare Pourpour since 1978 (when it was known as the Pouet Pouet Band). He has also crossed paths with Richard Desjardins, Carbine 14, Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Eloise and the Cheval Theatre. He leads the Claude Vendette sextet.

These two composers and musicians have worked on many with Alanis Obomsawin, the famous Abenaki filmmaker, including her most recent ones Genie Boy (2007) and Waban- Aki, since Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993).

Six musicians together will interpret a concert version of the scores from the films. This will be a tribute to Amerindian film, a tip of the hat to documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and a chance to rediscover original music that is often lost within the overall work in the films for which they had been composed.

LUCIE IDLOUT is a lyricist-composersinger from Nunavut. Her energetic folk rock has earned her rave reviews everywhere "

"A one-woman revolution in Canadian music, taking the old blues wraiths and wrestling them into fierce new shapes." – Globe and Mail (National Paper)

"In the vein of darkness-drenched rockers such as PJ Harvey, Lucie Idlout (who is from the Arctic Canadian territory of Nunavut - no wonder she's so icy!) combines bluesy tendencies with modern atmospherics." – Time Out, New York

Awards Ceremony

Dr Bernard Chagnan Assiniwi Award

This award crowns a First Nations person of distinction's exceptional achievement. It bears tribute to Bernard Assiniwi, whose work will long continue to make its mark on memories and hearts. Through this prestigious award Land InSights recognizes the steadfast efforts of men and women who have devoted their lives to preserving their original culture and nourishing it with the selfless gift of their pride in belonging.

Aboriginal Films and Videos

Under the guidance of producer Kevin Tierney from Park Ex Pictures, the festival jury awards are expressions of our recognition to First Nations filmmakers and video artists for their commitment and creativity.

COMMUNITIES CATEGORY : Rigoberta Menchu has worked tirelessly for many years as a spokesperson for Amerindian peoples under threat throughout the Americas. She is currently a candidate for the presidency of Guatemala.
  The Rigoberta Menchu Award recognizes the best documentary in the Communities category. Urgent films, hard-hitting documentaries and patient inventories of scorned hopes or, better yet, the resistance of small communities to their disappearance, all find a forum for expression at Montréal First Peoples' Festival. Madame Lesvia Vela, Rigoberta Menchu representative in Montreal joins with Land InSights in gratitude for the persistence and quality of a cinematography of hope and struggle.

CREATION CATEGORY : The TEUEIKAN award, bearing the name of the sacred Innu drum, bears homage to the creativity of Aboriginal filmmakers and video artists. Fiction is a favoured means of access to deeper realities. This prize recognizes an outstanding fictional work among the high-quality productions selected by the festival. Inuit sculptor Mattiusi Iyaituk's bronze is now recognized as one of the major awards on the First Nations cinema festival circuit.

DOCUMENTARY CATEGORY : The Séquences magazine award was created five years ago to recognize the best documentary.

NEW GUARD CATEGORY : For the second year, the Main Film award, named for this dynamic Montreal production company, aims to encourage young filmmakers in the new guard by providing them access to training internships and professional equipment. Two new awards will be added this year: award for best short and award for best animated film.

June 21, National Aboriginal Solidarity Day

National Aboriginal Day Civic Ceremony

Since 1996, this annual ceremony has taken place in the presence of dignitaries from different levels of government and First Nations leaders. The drum salutes the sun at its summer solstice; Earth's heart is glad for her children's glee.

Followed by

Solstice of the Nations

The flame from the June 21^st fire is officially handed over to the organizers of la Fête nationale du Québec. The warmth of friendship among peoples announces a glorious summer.

Day of the Popping Corn

www.sat.qc.ca

9 P.M.
SAT MIXSESSIONS POPPING CORN – TAKE 2
An evening as young and popping as the day. Artists in emerging arts combine forces: happening, deejaying, veejaying, live performance, no holds will be barred to make this June 21st a memorable evening.
  This evening will also mark a new page in the history of film: the first film credits contest in the world will be featured at the event. A historic moment to experience during Montréal First Peoples' Festival 2007!
Admission: $6

9:15 P.M.
Chistine Siouï Wawanoloath's Turtle Island (music, dance and hosting)

9:45 P.M.
Tripnotik + Mexican musical trio + vj

10:45 P.M.
Igloo lounge DJ Geronimo Madeskimo and his guests + film credits (15 min contest)

11:45 P.M.
Loco Locass and Samian

MIDNIGHT
Oso 3 + vj Athanore + video artists from Vidéo Paradiso and Wapikoni

1 A.M.
Jan Pienkowski + vj Pink Rubber Lady

At Café l'Utopik

FRANCISCA DEL
CARMEN LLAO

Friday June 15

5 to 7 P.M. Francisca, a Chilean Mapuche woman

Francisca Del Carmen Llao lives in Purén in the Tranaman community. She plays an important role due to her depth of traditional Mapuche knowledge. She has been very active in sharing her knowledge with surrounding Mapuche communities, teaching her mother tongue to children, and through her involvement in ongoing struggles to sustain a culture that had been looked down on for far too long. To the beat of her kultrun (traditional drum) Francisca sings in her native tongue about her people's adventures, beliefs and cosmic vision.

Join in the circle sharing in this knowledge on Friday June 15th at L'Utopik, 552 St Catherine East (opposite the festival outdoor site) for a fascinating encounter with this committed, energetic woman who is visiting us from the other end of the Americas. You can find more details on Francisca and her amazing journey to Quebec at this website: web.mac.com/charlottemapuche...

JOSÉPHINE BACON

9 P.M. Launch of the Aimititau! Parlons-nous! project, an initiative by Laure Morali, with authors José Acquelin and Joséphine Bacon who will present the products of their intercultural poetic dialogue.

10 P.M. Amerindian tales, full frontal
The bowdlerized children's versions we hear of traditional tales make us forget the Rabelasian bawdiness of the original content. Here, in all their salty splendour, are Amerindian tales as you've never dared imagine them. With storytellers Sylvain Rivard and Joséphine Bacon. (in French)

SAKAY OTTAWA

Sunday June 16, 9 P.M.
Sakay Ottawa performs

Singer-songwriter who expresses himself in his native language, Atikamekw.

At BAnQ Montreal Archives Centre