'I didn't have time to filter'
A Métis filmmaker reveals the inspiration for his impressive debut feature
JENNIE PUNTER
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
There's nothing like the impending birth of a first child to inspire one to complete sensible things like home renovations or financial planning. But for Shane Belcourt it was time to throw caution to the wind and finally write and direct that feature film he had always talked about.
Tkaronto had its world premiere at last fall's imagineNATIVE and has since played several festivals north and south of the border, receiving awards and critical kudos for its emotional resonance, standout performances and relaxed, improvised feel. "There is an immediacy to the film that was not under control, since I had nine months to get the whole thing together," laughs Belcourt, now father of an 11-month-old daughter.
The shorthand description of Tkaronto, the Mohawk word for Toronto, would be to call it the Canadian Before Sunrise, referring to Richard Linklater's beloved two-hander starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as two travellers who meet and spend the night walking and talking in Vienna.
Belcourt's film, which opens tomorrow in Toronto, captures a few days in the life of two aboriginal thirtysomethings who meet while crashing at a mutual friend's place in Toronto. Jolene (newcomer Melanie McLaren), an Anishnabe artist now living in L.A., is interviewing elders for a portrait series; Ray (Duane Murray), a Métis writer, is pitching a TV show called Indian Jones, while his pregnant wife waits anxiously in Vancouver.
Jolene and Ray are both married to white people and both are urban dwellers grappling with the notion of their aboriginal identity - the common ground from which their rambling conversations take flight.
"All these things from my life kept coming out and I didn't have time to write 45 drafts, I didn't have time to filter," explains Belcourt, son of Tony Belcourt, a highly regarded Métis leader and aboriginal-rights activist.
Some stories in the film are plucked directly from the younger Belcourt's childhood. "One time I asked my grandmother how to say certain words in her language and she started crying because she thought I was making fun of her," he recalls. "As you get older and gain awareness about things like residential schools, you understand the political currents, but as a kid you experience these things as emotional."
Belcourt, who grew up mostly in Ottawa and has lived in Toronto for more than a decade, reveals an open, energetic personality and a quick, self-deprecating sense of humour as he sits in the sun enjoying a fresh-baked cookie. He likes to call himself a film-school dropout, but well before setting foot on the York University campus he had already learned many tricks of the trade. In high school, he worked on educational videos for aboriginal organizations dealing with such topics as fetal alcohol syndrome and domestic abuse.
"I was behind the scenes holding the reflector card back then, but now I shoot and direct a lot of those kinds of documentaries," he says. "I was constantly immersed in the aboriginal political world. Watching communities form circle discussions and talking to elders, I came to understand the balance many urban aboriginals struggle to attain."
The character of Ray was relatively easy to develop because of Belcourt's cultural background, looming fatherhood and experiences as a musician and filmmaker. "I drew on my own life and exaggerated scenarios I might find myself in," he says.
For Jolene, he included some of his own struggles - such as not knowing how to pray - but he was also influenced by his sister, Christi Belcourt, a painter who works with elders, and her best friend, Nunavut-born alt-rock singer Lucy Idlout. The three frequently converse about the notion of finding an authentic spiritual place as an urban native.
"In the city, you see churches and mosques and other cultural places, but for aboriginal people, the visual reminders of your identity are supposed to be outside the city," he explains. "But many aboriginals are born and raised in cities, so where is our place? The film is never going to answer that, but it's something we need to talk more about."
Casting the right actors for Ray and Jolene was as key to the film's success as the script. McLaren is a screen newcomer who delivers a totally fresh, head-turning performance. "We found ways for her to identify personally with things Jolene was saying and then she could go off page," Belcourt explains.
Murray, a high-school friend whom Belcourt calls "the Eeyore of my life," drew on personal history. The actor - who also co-produced the film with Belcourt and score composer Jordan O'Connor - delivers one of the more charming, relaxed screen performances in a Canadian film.
What has surprised Belcourt most about the film so far is the warm reception it has received from non-aboriginal viewers. "I didn't know if anyone was going to like it, it's so personal to put your individual struggle into a film," he says, adding with a laugh, "This is what I find so ironic about life, is that by going so personal, it becomes universal."
Special to The Globe and Mail
Tkaronto opens in Toronto tomorrow, and then in London, Ont., Regina, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver.
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