Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival, 2018
Seattle International Film Festival, 2018
For many Indigenous youth, abnormal childhoods are the norm. But the memories of those years cannot be simply dualized as good or bad; they can be haunting yet beautiful, sad but joyful, dark and warm.
Nostalgia seethes as Kiyari McNab shares such fragmented memories; some in vivid detail, others like a vague dream. After being removed by Social Services from her mother’s care as an infant, Kiyari spent her childhood separated from her family, moving from one foster home to the next. After years of emotional, spiritual, and physical displacement enforced by the state, she struggled to find a sense of self and connection to her culture and roots.
As a young, Indigenous woman, she is aware of the neo-colonial shackles limiting her aspirations. But through a personal excavation of her past, she discovers her own internalized oppression. The freedom she seeks requires her to not only break the confines of society but to let go of the chains she forged herself. Left with unanswered questions, Kiyari is suspended between memories and ambitions; the past that shaped her and the future she will shape.
Directors: Andrea Cessna & Kiyari McNab
Producer: PPRPLN productions
Cinematography: Andrea Cessna & Kiyari McNab
Writers: Andrea Cessna & Kiyari McNab
Editors: Andrea Cessna & Kiyari McNab
Music: “Orif/Oram (Instrumental)” by Ursa from album “Prism System”
Sound: Bear Temple Productions