The Dreamspeakers International Film and Television Festival is returning for a four-day celebration of aboriginals and cinematic views of the world around them.
Murray Jurak, president of the festival, said that the quantity of films can be lean depending on the year, but he was very happy with the content this year, even if the selection process isn’t always pleasant.
“The process of picking movies is like making sausages,” he said. “It’s kind of ugly but at the end it tastes good.”
The definition of what is, and is not, aboriginal is an ongoing issue that the festival deals with, and Jurak said it can be difficult to be stereotyped into one description.
“You can’t pigeonhole us as a people,” he said. “What I’m hoping is that we’re showing the whole gambit of the aboriginal [community].”
As the festival continues to grow and expand, Jurak, said he would like to look at the definition of “aboriginal” and to welcome other groups around the world that consider them aboriginal to submit films.
“We want to get more of a world audience,” Jurak said. “I would like to talk to [other aboriginal groups] and say come on board, you’re with us.”
The festival runs from June 4 to Jun. 7 and will be playing movies at Metro Cinema and Stanley Milner Library Theatre.
