Keelan Keeshig of Parry Sound wins imagineNATIVE Video Voting Contest!
Youth Winner Announced
imagineNATIVE Youth Video Contest Winner Selected by Almost 800 Public Voters!
May 3, 2011 – imagineNATIVE is thrilled to announce the winner of its inaugural 2011 Youth Video Contest is Keelan Keeshig of Parry Sound, as selected by almost 800 public voters! The Contest was the outcome of the festival’s first-ever video-making workshop, which took place as part of the Northern Ontario Film + Video Tour this past winter. Keeshig has won a trip to the 12th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival this October, where he will see his short video on the big screen, alongside film and video works by fellow emerging and established artists.
Keelan Keeshig (Ojibway) is a grade 12 student at the Parry Sound High School and also an aspiring performer. In his video, Keelan’s story is sincere and compelling in its delivery; ultimately, he has produced a video that truly lends itself to the great potential and future of this project. imagineNATIVE congratulates Keelan on his victory and is excited to see the growth of this young artist.
“Over the two-day workshop, Keelan was receptive and eager to take on the challenges that come with video-making,” says Sage Paul, Events and Communications Director. “It is inspiring to see Keelan focus in on his own talents to have produced a piece that is relevant to such a large audience, but also reflective of who he is as an individual.”
Ten youth created incredible video works as a part of this unique project and imagineNATIVE applauds each of them for taking on and completing the challenge. Using readily available resources, such as a point-and-shoot camera and pre-installed editing software, the ten youth were led through the video production process with artist and filmmaker Keesic Douglas, in the workshop “My Space. My Story.” This invaluable opportunity has left each of these youth with the tools and knowledge to continue to create video work, share their stories, and ultimately see their career opportunities in film and media.
About the Northern Ontario Film + Video Tour and the Video-making Workshop
imagineNATIVE’s Northern Ontario Film + Video Tour brought NDN 4 L!F3 (Youth Shorts Program from imagineNATIVE 2010) and A Windigo Tale (Closing Night feature presentation from imagineNATIVE 2010) to 11 communities in Northeastern and Western Ontario. The tour was created to provide communities accessibility to Indigenous-made film and video from Canada and abroad. The tour encourages youth to explore the creation of film and video through screenings and discussions, and provides an opportunity to the larger community to experience imagineNATIVE outside of the Festival.
In response to demand, video-making workshops were added this year to targeted tour stops, teaching youth under 30 how to produce short videos using readily available technology such as cell phones and webcams. The videos were the result of these innovative workshops, which subsequently saw enormous support from the public through the open poll on imagineNATIVE’s website.
About the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is an international festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples at the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio, and new media. Each fall, the Festival presents a selection of the most compelling and distinctive Indigenous works from Canada and around the globe. The works accepted reflect the diversity of the world’s Indigenous nations and illustrate the vitality and excellence of our art and culture in contemporary media. imagineNATIVE is the largest festival of its kind in Canada and the world.
The 12th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will take place October 19 – 23, 2011. The deadline to submit film, video, radio and new media works for consideration of inclusion in this year’s festival is June 1. For more information, visit www.imagineNATIVE.org