Where the Spirit Lives
{{short description|1989 Canadian television film by Bruce Pittman}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Wherethespiritlives89.jpg
| caption = Promotional poster
| writer = Keith Ross Leckie
| director = Bruce Pittman
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| narrator =
| music = Buffy Sainte-Marie
| country = Canada
| language = English
| producer = {{Plainlist|
}}
| cinematography = Rene Ohashi
| editor = Michael Todd
| runtime = 96 minutes
| company = Screen Door
| budget = $2.6 million{{cite news |last=Burliuk |first=Greg |date=September 8, 1989 |title=Jewison Film About Native Schoolgirl Is Festival's Gem |page=1 |work=Kingston Whig-Standard |location=Kingston, Ontario, Canada |id={{ProQuest|353348770}}}}{{subscription required}}
| network = CBC Television
| released = {{Start date|1989|10|29}}
}}
Where the Spirit Lives is a 1989 television film about Aboriginal children in Canada being taken from their tribes to attend residential schools for assimilation into majority culture. Written by Keith Ross Leckie and directed by Bruce Pittman, it aired on CBC Television on October 29, 1989.{{cite news |last1=Bawden |first1=Jim |last2=Knutzen |first2=Eirick |date=September 9, 1989 |title=Minis, Specials, Movies: Fall 1989 Preview |work=Toronto Star |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |page=S18 |id={{ProQuest|436032190}}}}{{subscription required}} It was also shown in the United States on PBS on June 6, 1990, as part of the American Playhouse series{{cite news |last=Ruth |first=Daniel |date=June 6, 1990 |title=PBS' 'Spirit' conjures strong images of racism |work=Chicago Sun-Times |location=Chicago, Illinois |page=41}}{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103244/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ql_dt_2 |title=Where the Spirit Lives (1989) Release Info |author= |date=2019 |website=IMDb.com |access-date=October 13, 2019}} and was screened at multiple film festivals in Canada and the United States.
The film stars Michelle St. John as Amelia, a young Kainai girl captured and confined to the residential school system of the 1930s. The system was an attempt to have aboriginal youth to assimilate into the majority European-Canadian culture. Amelia resists assimilation and plans her escape. The film's cast includes Ann-Marie MacDonald and David Hemblen as teachers at the school.
Plot
In 1937, a young Kainai girl named Ashtoh-Komi (Michelle St. John) is kidnapped along with several other children from a village as part of a Canadian policy to educate Aboriginal children and assimilate them into Canadian/British society. She is taken to a boarding school, where she is forced to adopt Western, Eurocentric ways and learn English, often under harsh treatment. Combined with the rejection of her peers (as she is a so-called "Bush Indian" who has not learnt white customs), Komi attempts to escape one night on foot with her little brother, Pita (Clayton Julian). However her plan is quickly foiled as the Indian Agent assigned to the school, Taggert (Ron White), catches up and brings them back to the school, where Komi is subjected to further punishment. Eventually Rachel (Heather Hess), Komi's only ally among the students, plead with the teachers to free her by promising to teach Komi to behave.
One teacher, Kathleen Gwillimbury (Ann-Marie MacDonald), is portrayed as sympathetic and she becomes repelled by the bigotry of others at the school. She offers Komi help in the form of giving her English lessons which culminate in cultural exchange, where Kathleen learns Kainai words from Komi in exchange for her learning their English counterparts. Now Amelia, Komi improves her English quickly with the kindness and support of her teacher, gradually adjusting to the school environment while retaining her Kainai identity. However, when Amelia learns that the teachers lied to her by telling her her parents had died, she decides to escape again, this time successfully.
Cast
- Michelle St. John – Ashtoh-Komi/Amelia{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103244/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm |title=Where the Spirit Lives (1989): Full cast & crew |author= |date=2019 |website=IMDb.com |access-date=October 15, 2019}}
- Kim Bruisedhead Fox – Anataki
- Clayton Julian – Pita/Abraham
- Ron White – Taggert
- Ann-Marie MacDonald – Kathleen Gwillimbury
- Doris Petrie – Miss Weir
- Chapelle Jaffe – Miss Appleby
- David Hemblen – Reverend Buckley
- John Friesen – Mr. Babcock
- Patricia Collins – Mrs. Barrington
- Graham Greene – Komi's father{{cite news |last=Hartl |first=John |date=May 3, 1991 |title=Assimilating the Indian Population |work=The Seattle Times |location=Seattle, Washington |page=Tempo section, 25}}
- Heather Hess – Rachel
Production
The idea for the film originated when the producers and screenwriter were working on the 13-episode CBC television series Spirit Bay, which focused on native children growing up on a Northern Ontario Indian reserve. They "kept hearing bitter stories about residential schools" and were inspired to tell a story about that system in a film.
Primary financing for the film's $2.6 million budget was provided by Telefilm Canada ($1.25 million) and the CBC ($500,000), who secured first rights to the film. Other financing came from the Ontario Film Development Corporation, Mid-Canada TV, and Atlantis Releasing. Canadian film director and producer Norman Jewison "personally contributed $12,500, half the cost of making a theatrical print for film festivals",{{cite news |last=Adilman |first=Sid |date=October 7, 1989 |title=Little movie that was a big hit at film fest bound for small screen |work=The Toronto Star |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |page=J1 |id={{ProQuest|436057948}}}}{{subscription required}} with the other half supplied by the Ontario Film Development Corp.
The film began shooting on September 26, 1988.{{cite news |author= |title=Blackfoot girl's story told in $2.6 million film |work=The Toronto Star |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |date=September 27, 1988 |page=Entertainment section, B3 |id={{ProQuest|435774540}}}}{{subscription required}} Locations included Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta and Toronto.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103244/locations?ref_=tt_ql_dt_5 |title=Where the Spirit Lives (1989): Filming & Production |author= |date=2019 |website=IMDb.com |access-date=October 15, 2019}}
Screenings
Although created for television, the film was shot in 35 mm and as a result was able to be screened in theaters. It was shown at various film festivals in Canada and the United States from 1989 through 2002. It was also screened at some colleges and universities, as part of college film festivals,{{cite news |author= |title=Mercyhurst College Film Festival |work=Erie Times-News |location=Erie, Pennsylvania |date=September 26, 2000}}{{cite news |author= |title=Indian Film Festival Begins Nov. 1 at UND |work=Grand Forks Herald |location=Grand Forks, North Dakota |date=October 22, 2011 |page=C6}} classes,{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Betsy |date=April 18, 2005 |title=Talks at University Cover Wide Range of Topics |work=Missoulian |location=Missoula, Montana}} or special events related to Indigenous or Native American studies.{{cite news |author= |title=Keepers of Fire Powwow April 17–18 at University of Wyoming |agency=US Fed News |date=April 2, 2010}}
Awards
The film won nine awards and was nominated for two additional awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103244/awards?ref_=tt_awd |title=Where The Spirit Lives (1989) Awards |author= |date=2019 |website=IMDb.com |access-date=October 13, 2019}}
See also
- Sleeping Children Awake, a 1992 documentary about residential schools
- We Were Children, a 2012 Canadian documentary about residential schools
- Our Spirits Don't Speak English (2008), a documentary film about Native American boarding schools in the United States.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.screendoor.org/productions/drama/wherethespiritlives Where the Spirit Lives], Screen Door Website
- {{IMDb title|id=0103244}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Where The Spirit Lives}}
Category:CBC Television original films
Category:Assimilation of Indigenous peoples of North America
Category:English-language Canadian films
Category:Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Television Film or Miniseries winners
Category:Canadian drama television films
Category:1989 television films
Category:Works about residential schools in Canada
Category:1980s English-language films