Washington State Film Festival Honors Jules Arita Koostachin

Article content

Vancouver-based filmmaker Attawapiskat Jules Arita Koostachin will receive the Shirley Jo Finney award for outstanding filmmaker in this year’s edition Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival in Bellingham, Washington.

Koostachin The award-winning film WaaPaKe (Tomorrow) will be screened at this year’s edition. festival which will take place from April 25 to 28.

Article content

“Chi mii’kwetch to the Cascadia Film Festival for supporting me in this revelation of the truth. “I have been a part of this festival from the beginning and so I am deeply moved and grateful for the opportunity to share my work with this community.” Koostachin, who has a Ph.D. from UBC in indigenous documentaries, protocols and processes, he told Postmedia in an email.

WaaPaKe tells the stories of residential school survivors and their families. The word “Waapake” in Swamp Cree means tomorrow and is used here to highlight the path toward healing from intergenerational trauma.

Article content

“Sadly, people connect with stories of loss, but they also connect with stories about family and love. WaaPaKe is a deeply moving story about humanity and forgiveness. “It’s a film that will outlive me and hopefully continue to educate about the importance of our resilience as Indigenous people,” said Koostachin, who is currently in post-production on a second scripted feature, Angela’s Shadow, which will premiere at festivals in the fall and is working on the comedy series Truth in Toronto.

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know – add VancouverSun.com and LaProvincia.com to your favorites and subscribe to our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber – for just $14 a month you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The province.

Article content