Indigenous Representational Sovereignty and Kuessipan: Adaptation or Appropriation?--Dr. Miléna Santoro, Georgetown University.
On Thursday, February 22, from 3:25-4:40pm in Maxwell Library, Room 013, Quebec culture and film expert Dr. Miléna Santoro will discuss the making and impact of Kuessipan (2019), an award-winning coming-of-age film based on the novel by Innu writer Naomi Fontaine.
Directed by Franco-Québécoise filmmaker Myriam Verrault, and co-written with Fontaine, the film centers on Mikuan and Shaniss, two childhood friends whose lives diverge during high school. Shaniss drops out and has a baby, while Mikuan plans to follow her dream of becoming a writer by moving away from the reservation and attending university in Quebec City. Their friendship becomes strained when Mikuan begins dating Francis, a white boy from her writing workshop, and Shaniss accuses Mikuan of rejecting her culture by entering a relationship with Francis and planning to move away.
Dr. Santoro will address the film's layers of questions, examining both Indigenous self-determination and the importance of Indigenous film.
Kuessipan is available for streaming by all members of the
BSU community at the following link:
Kuessipan.mp4.
Sponsored by the Canadian Studies, Film Studies, and Native American and Indigenous Studies Programs, Dr. Santoro’s talk is open to the public.
