A National Film Board of Canada documentary focusing on intergenerational trauma and healing is going to screen in Fort Simpson this month.
WaaPaKe, which means “tomorrow” in Cree, will screen at this year’s Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ film festival.
The film includes interviews with three generations of director Dr Jules Koostachin’s family including herself, her mother Rita, who is a residential school survivor, and her son Asivak.
Jules said the film, shot in Vancouver, Kwantlen First Nation traditional territory in British Columbia, and Whitehorse, focuses on the next generation or the children and grandchildren of survivors. It embraces an element of hope, to convey the message that “we’re on a healing journey.”
“It is about forgiveness and hope and love and family, and then trying to break away from trauma,” Jules said. “I just want people to know that we’re still here. That it’s still very raw. Definitely, there’s still a lot of healing that needs to happen. So I think that it’s a story that’s relevant.”
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Before every shoot, a smudging ceremony was held to bring the cast together in a safe space. Throughout filming, Jules said having an on-call counselor helped ensure the cast felt at ease sharing their personal stories.
Jules said her children have always been a part of her projects.
“They have so much to say. They have the lived experience. They lived with my grandparents who didn’t speak English, they’re both hunter trappers. Also, we all live together when we live with my mom, who is a survivor,” she said.
“I feel like they have a lot to say about the next generation, what that actually means.”
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Jules son Asivak has worked on 20 different film projects – including a show currently filming in Albuquerque, New Mexico – since he started working professionally in 2016. He said he has been in front of the camera since childhood.
Although being interviewed in WaaPaKe wasn’t easy and at times uncomfortable for him, Asivak said, it felt “right to talk about it.”
“The subject matter is pretty intense, and it’s really heavy,” he said. “I would say it felt very healing to talk about it, even though it was really hard. I felt very supported by my mother and the crew involved.”
‘Healing is possible’
Asivak said he hopes people are guided through the stories shared in the documentary and gain awareness about what intergenerational trauma is.
“We haven’t really seen what the consequences of things happening are on the newest generation, the youngest people, and how they have to live with it, and move through the world,” he said.
“If there’s one thing that people can take away from the documentary it’s that it’s possible to talk about hard things with your family and your past. That kind of healing is possible for whoever you are.”
Jules’ first scripted feature, Broken Angel, was released in 2022. The second, Angela’s Shadow, is in its post-production phase. Jules said she’s currently writing her third feature, which will be submitted for funding in a couple months.
For WaaPaKe, Jules said having more time to invest into the film allowed the project to not feel rushed.
The documentary was released on October 1 last year, and received the Best BC Film Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
It will screen at the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ film festival on February 15 at 7pm.
