59 minutes / Color
Release: 1991
Copyright: 1991
Part of AS LONG AS THE RIVERS FLOW series
Control of the media as a means of Native American self-determination is the topic explored in STARTING FIRE WITH GUNPOWDER.
The program chronicles the origins and achievements of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), a model for aboriginal broadcasters the world over. Through documentary, drama, animation, and children's programs, the IBC helps keep Inuit culture and language alive. Its directors and producers make compelling television on ever shrinking budgets. Their story is told by Inuk filmmaker Ann Meekitjuk Hanson who "noticed that the first thing that happens in a revolution is the take-over of the radio and television stations." STARTING FIRE WITH GUNPOWDER examines how Inuit television will play a critical role in the creation of a modern Inuit nation.
"Combines a look at the successful, native run Inuit Broadcasting Corp. with a frank examination of topics - including alcoholism and wife abuse - that it has covered."- Maclean's
Select Accolades
A series of five films which document the epic struggle of Canada's Native People.
Color
The stories of three native women who are making control of education an important issues in today's native communities.
Loretta Todd | 1991 | 59 minutes | Color | Closed Captioned
Presents the case of the Nisga tribe in their long fight for aboriginal rights in British Columbia.
Hugh Brody | 1991 | 59 minutes | Color
